Results of Our Choices
by Inuyashahiei
Summary: AU. Neglect can do many things to a person. And when Lily and James neglected to silence their youngest son's screams, the result was apocalyptic. Eventual dark!sadistic!Harry
1. Chapter 1

Summary: AU

Summary: AU. Neglect can do many things to a person. It can decide what emotions they feel, and what ones they do not. Determine whether their choices will be the right ones, or the wrong ones. Decide whether they will have a bright future, or a dark one. Yes, neglect can do a lot to a person. And when Lily and James neglected to silence their youngest son's screams, the result was apocalyptic.

Warnings: This story will contain child abuse, violence and gore, coarse language, and homicidal and suicidal thoughts and actions. This story will also eventually contain Dark!Evil!Harry. More may be added later. Currently rated T. I may raise it later, and tell me if you think it should be raised.

Disclaimer: This chapter is not mine, it's creation and the plot is Silver Angel 7's and their credit, along with the other six chapters, will be given to her. Oh and Jake Potter is hers as well. JK Rowling owns the Harry Potter characters. I am making no money off this.

/'_Parseltongue'/ _

"_Emphasized words and spells"_

"Normal speech"

The Results of Our Choices 

Chapter One

_It's Just the Beginning _

Dusk was setting upon the vast acres of Godric's Hollow, bringing with it a light haze that clung low to the earth. The setting sun off in the distance provided just enough light so that the tops of the trees in the nearby forest were luminous, and cast long shadows upon the impressive grounds.

The day was October 31st, 1983. A family of four sat in a well furnished living room located on the first floor of the large, two-story house. The room was mostly decorated in different tones of red and gold, with random pictures and portraits hung up on the walls. A woman with deep auburn hair and brilliantly green eyes sat curled up next to a man with wild raven locks and glasses on top of a plush couch. Their sparkling eyes watched as two small figures ran happily around the room as they burned off the sugar-induced energy caused by large amounts of candy. Their happy and innocent laughter filled the room, bringing joy to their parents' hearts.

The woman moved her head slightly off of the man's shoulder and smiled as she caught his eye. Her features softened slightly as he smiled back, and she mouthed the words 'I love you'. His smile broadened as he mouthed back 'I know' and leaned down for a gentle kiss. It was interrupted though when a wail was heard from the other side of the room, coming from the oldest of the small boys. Lily, whose motherly instincts kicked in right away, jumped off of the couch and hurried over to her fallen boy.

"Jake! What's wrong, honey? Did you fall? Come on, tell mummy." His small head nodded forward a bit and the four-year-old pointed to his knee where a small scrape had formed. "Oh dear! Well we better get that cleaned up!" She bent down and wrapped her arms around the hazel-eyed child and lifted him up. She walked over to an unoccupied couch and set the boy down on top of it before removing her wand from its holster on her leg. "This wont hurt at all, okay honey?" Unfortunately for Lily, the spell did hurt a bit, and Jake was well aware of it, having gotten a number of scratches and bruises due to clumsy accidents. Jake started crying and squirming, trying to get away from the wand. Lily tried to quiet him down and convince him that it wouldn't hurt, but Jake refused to listen and started crying some more. Lily let out an irritated sigh and looked over at her husband. "A little _help_ here, James?"

"Oh, right," James scooted out of his seat at the sound of his wife's irritated request. Lily was quite scary when she was angry, and he definitely didn't want to make her any more uptight. James quickly walked over to one of the toys lying forgotten on the floor and picked it up, then walked over to where his son and wife were on the couch and started trying to distract the fussing child.

While all this was going on a small three-year-old boy stood off to the side of the room, watching his Mummy and Daddy bustle around his older brother. He wasn't too worried about his brother though, because he was used to seeing the raven haired boy hurt. He was a very clumsy child and received an accidental injury at least twice a week since he gained the ability to walk, and this 'argument', if you can call it that, between his parents and Jake was frequently had when it came to healing his injuries.

Harry was the complete opposite of this. For a three-year-old, he was very graceful on his feet, hardly ever tripping or slipping. He never hit his head on any of the tables or lamps and never fell out of the trees he would climb in the backyard. He was even able to ride a two-wheeler bicycle that Lily insisted the boys had. When the rare occasion arose where he did get hurt, he barely even cried and never fussed when his mother fixed the injury.

Harry was becoming bored with waiting for his brother to be okay again. He still had lots of sugar in him and standing there doing nothing was not a good way to dissipate his energy. Harry decided that he would just play by himself until Jake stopped crying and could join him. The green-eyed boy walked over to his favourite toy that was lying carelessly beside the coffee table. It was a red, plush dragon that he had had for as long as he could remember. The dragon went practically everywhere with him and there was never a night where Harry fell asleep without his lovable dragon cuddled up in his small arms.

Just as Harry was reaching down to pick up the plush toy, he stopped. His little head flung up at the sound of an unfamiliar noise, an unfamiliar voice echoing throughout the room. Harry looked around quizzically to see where the voice was coming from, but the only other people in the room was his family, and they were busy trying to calm Jake down after successfully healing his scrape. Harry was becoming slightly apprehensive and bent down to pick up his dragon for comfort. The voice, wherever it was coming from, seemed to be getting louder and Harry could now distinguish words/_'It'sss time…time to kill…time to dessstroy him…and hisss family…_ _make the mudblood lover'sss ssscream…and beg for their worthlessss livesss…'/_ The voice stopped and was replaced with laughter that was unlike any he had heard from his brother, Mummy, or Daddy. It was filled with no mirth or happiness, and it made the tiny toddler shiver.

Harry started walking towards his family, thinking that he should tell someone about the voice and wanting to be comforted and held by his Mummy so he wouldn't be scared anymore. He had almost reached them when the loudest noise Harry had ever heard started screeching throughout the house.

James jumped slightly when the alarm started blaring. Once his surprised mind comprehended just what the loud sound meant was happening, his face became a shade lighter and he quickly turned to his wife. "Lily! He's here! Voldemort's here! Take the boys and run upstairs. Use the floo in the bedroom and go straight to Hogwarts. Now!"

Lily hesitated for a second, not wanting to leave her husband to face that creature by himself. Seeing her hesitation, James leaned over and laid his lips atop hers. The kiss lasted for barely two seconds, but it was enough to communicate all the care and love that they had for each other. James pulled away and looked her straight in the eye. "I love you, and I'll be all right. Now take the boys and go!"

Lily nodded. "I love you too. Please be careful." Lily ran over to Jake and Harry and picked them up. She was just about to run up the stairs with the boys cradled safely against her chest when the front door burst open. Standing in the doorframe was a tall cloaked figure, with what appeared to be no face, but when it tilted its head in a certain mocking manor, red eyes became visible. Jake gave a small whimper at the loud sound of the door, but other than that the room was silent from temporary shock. The silence didn't last long though.

"Lily, go!" This snapped Lily out of her stupor quick enough, and she started at a fast pace towards the stairs.

A chilling laugh filled the room. "You think you can escape me, _mudblood_?" Right as she reached the bottom of the stairs, the cloaked figure raised his wand and pointed it at the middle of her back. "Think again. _Somnium Diabolus!"_ A deep blue beam shot out of the tip of the wand and hit Lily dead-on. She let out a gasp of surprise before falling backwards and landing on her back. A scream ripped itself from her throat as her arms and legs started flailing all over the place. As quickly as it started, her movements ceased and the screaming stopped. She lay still on the floor, chest rising and falling gently with every breathe she took. It appeared that the woman was sleeping.

Harry and Jake, who had been stunned and considerably frightened during their mother's episode, ran over to were she lay and started shaking her with their little hands.

"Mummy! Mummy wake up! Pwease wake up Mummy!" Their pitiful pleas were futile though, as their silent mother did not arouse from her deep sleep.

James watched all of this happen with wide eyes. He feared the worst for his beloved, and was deeply relieved when he saw the slight heaving of her chest. Remembering the cause of the fall, James quickly spun around to face the man who had brought forth so much pain and anguish upon innumerable people and families.

"What have you done to her!" James' voice was full of fury.

"Oh, don't worry about her, _Potter._ She'll wake up with not even a scratch on her. Although I can't say how long that will last." Voldemort smirked.

"The aurors will know you're here by now, _Riddle. _You won't…" James was cut off by a whispered '_Silencio!'_

"Tsk, tsk, Potter. You underestimate me. How unfortunate for you. _Catena!_" Chains shot from the end of the deadly stick and wrapped themselves around the wrists and ankles of the raven-haired man before flying backwards, dragging the man with it, and binding itself against a wall. "There will be time for fun later. But right now, you need to _sleep. Somnium Diabolus!"_ Just as Lily had, a painful scream erupted from James' throat and his limbs started struggling against the binds before he fell still, chest rising and falling gently in sleep.

Another emotionless laugh erupted from the throat of the cloaked man as he slowly turned and faced the two children who were still huddled together over their mother, trying to wake her up. Harry looked up at the man who had hurt his Mummy and Daddy as he approached him and his brother. Harry was very frightened at that moment in time and all he wanted was for his Mummy to hold him and tell him everything was okay. But he had a strong feeling that that wasn't going to happen any time soon. In fact, as the man continued to advance upon him and Jake, something in the three-year-olds mind told him it wasn't going to happen ever again. And this made the child angry. This bad man had hurt his Mummy and Daddy and was going to try and hurt his brother too! He was hurting his family! He was preventing him from being with his family when they needed each other the most! And this made the child really mad.

Harry felt something within him. It slowly spread throughout his veins, reaching from his finger tips to the end of each hair upon his body. The green-eyed boy imagined that if the fire that danced atop the many candles throughout their home were to fill his veins without burning him, it would feel similar to what he was experiencing now. Harry felt his messy locks of hair rise from his forehead and float lazily around his head. He could feel his eyes darkening from their normal emerald colour to liquid ink and the blackness spreading so no white remained. He could feel himself smirk as he looked into those deadly red eyes with his own eyes that promised agony and destruction.

Voldemort watched as the child transformed into what could only be described as a demon with a body of a three-year-old. His apprehension rose as he felt the power the boy possessed increase to an alarming rate. The Dark Lord had come here to destroy the Potter child with a great amount of confidence under his belt that it would be the simplest thing to kill the small child. But as his blood red eyes met those pools of darkness a flicker of panic flashed through his head. He had a feeling that if he waited much longer, he would miss his chance to kill the boy. So, with much determination and confidence, the Dark Lord lifted his wand and pointed it directly at the powerful child and spoke the most deadly of the unforgivable curses; "_Avada Kedavra!"_

A jet of green light flew from the tip of the deadly wand and hurled toward the raven-haired boy, hitting him in the forehead. The boy let out a gasp and a cry was heard echoing through the room as the small child fell backwards. No movement was seen from the small body and a victorious smirk formed on the lips of the Dark Lord. He had won. No one would be able to stop his reign of power. Not anyone. But what did you expect when the savior of the light was a small child.

The Dark Lord felt his smirk swiftly slip away when he looked upon the boy who was previously lying deathly still on the ground, only to see him become engulfed in a sphere of eerie green light and the lithe body lifted off of the ground. Black scriptures that appeared to be written in a foreign, lost language swirled around the globe of light for mere moments before the sphere exploded. A powerful wind started up and magic surged around the room as the green light gathered into a powerful ball of energy and rushed towards the cloaked man, hitting him in the middle of his chest. Green light spread to every inch of his body before there was another explosion and the light became blinding.

A howl of pain was heard and as the blinding light dulled, what appeared to be a melting Dark Lord became visible. His flesh was slipping, melting away, exposing the muscle under his skin, which was also quickly dissolving away. Within moments, the only thing left standing was a cloaked skeleton, which was quickly blown to dust by the powerful winds still going strongly throughout the room.

A loud screech was heard and a beam of black energy erupted from the fallen cloak and quickly manifested itself into the form of what vaguely resembled the Dark Lords head. The head of energy turned its red eyes towards the now frightened three-year-old, who had watched the destruction of the Dark Lord's body in a terrified stupor. The head let out another screech and flew at a fast pace towards the stunned child. It flew through the boy, knocking him all the way across the room and into a wall. The black energy let out one more screech before flying away swiftly, leaving behind the remains of its body.

The house began to shake violently. Pictures started falling of walls and lamps toppled off of tables. The roof itself started to cave in, pieces of plaster falling in random spots. One piece fell directly on top of Jake, carving a bloody zigzag design into his small chest before the piece was blown away by the strong winds.

Harry saw this happen, but only felt a minor pang of worry for his brother. His head was too foggy to comprehend anything, really. Harry found that he was getting really tired and it felt like he was sick. He raised one of his small hands to cover his forehead to see if it was warm and when he pulled it away it was covered in what he recognized as blood. Harry started to panic. He was injured! And his Mummy wasn't awake to fix him! Harry had always been told it was important to heal a cut as soon as possible so it wouldn't get infected. With this in mind, the toddler placed his hand over the cut and thought of healing it, thought of what the smooth skin usually felt like and what he usually saw in the mirror. Harry felt a tingling sensation run through his fingers and into the cut a moment before the pain stopped. He ran a finger over it and felt nothing there. Harry was relieved.

The wind started to die down and the house stopped shaking a few moments later. The few pieces of debris that had been floating around in the air settled back down onto the floor and the house slowly stopped shaking. Harry was still considerably frightened over the events that took place moments beforehand, and he could feel fatigue creeping up on him. Harry moved his body slightly so he was lying on the floor. Through half lidded eyes he watched as a man with a long white beard and oddly coloured robes appeared in the doorway of their house and rushed over to his parents to revive them. Through half lidded eyes he watched as his parents and the old man ran over to his fallen brother and the old man bend down to study his brother's chest and declare something that made his parents cheer. Through half lidded eyes he watched as his parents swept Jake up into their arms and held on to him tightly, whispering things into his ear that made him giggle.

Through half lidded eyes he watched and waited for his parents to run over to him and engulf him into a tight hug and tell him everything was going to be okay, that the bad man was just a dream, that it was all just a bad dream. But it never happened. They never came.

A single crystal tear fell from emerald eyes before the tugging on his consciousness became too much, and the little boy surrendered to the darkness.

TBC…

A/N: There's the first chapter. I hope it wasn't to confusing with all the switching of POVs. Please leave a review and I will try to answer any questions you may have. No flames! Constructive criticism only.

_Catena: _Latin for chain. What this spell does is pretty obvious.

_Somnium Diabolus:_ Latin for 'Dream Devil'. Puts someone into a deep sleep where their worst nightmares replay themselves and they can feel physical pain, though when they wale up they are unharmed.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to J

Disclaimer: All characters and places belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing. This chapter is not mine nor is Jake Potter.

"_Emphasized words and spells"_

"Normal speech"

Chapter 2

Holiday Cheer  
Pt.1 of 3 

Time is a very mysterious and peculiar thing. It is supposed to never change, and never stop. It is supposed to move at the same steady pace for all of forever. The amount of seconds in a minute, minutes in an hour, and hours in a day are supposed to remain the same, never increasing or decreasing. These things have been proven. They are fact. But your mind doesn't know that. To your imagination time can seem to slow down or pick up at the most inappropriate of times. During times of bliss and happiness, hours go by like seconds, and the moment is over far too quickly. During times of agony and sadness, hours seem like days, and it drags on for an excruciatingly long period of time.

It had been almost two months since Voldemort had attacked Godric's Hollow, and they had gone by agonizingly slowly for the youngest Potter child.

Harry remembered the events that took place that night as clear as day. Even when he tried to forget the terrifying memory, flashes of red eyes or green lights would run through his mind, refusing to be pushed to the background and ignored. The child often woke up from frightening nightmares in a cold sweat and a tear streaked face, but no one was there to comfort him. His parents were to busy with Jake.

Harry noticed the favouritism as soon as he woke up in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts two days after the attack, to find his family no where in sight. He had called out for them a few times before the long bearded man he had seen before he fell unconscious entered the room and introduced himself as Professor Dumbledore. He had explained that his Mummy and Daddy had simply stepped out of the room for a few hours to treat their eldest son to an ice cream from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour in Diagon Alley. The toddler had nodded his understanding and had looked down, but the glassy look in his eye was more than enough evidence that the boy was hurt. When his parents had returned to the Hospital Wing with Jake, they seemed to be all overjoyed that he was awake. His parents had embraced him and told him they loved him, and Harry finally thought all the bad stuff was over. He was content for the first time in days.

But that feeling didn't last very long.

After welcoming their youngest to the land of the conscious, Lily and James sat down in two chairs beside Harry's bed, with Jake sitting happily upon James' lap. Dumbledore, who had been expectantly watching the family from the other side of the room, strolled over to the Potters and stood beside the occupied chairs. After a few exchanged looks between Harry's Mum and Dad and Dumbledore, Lily and James proceeded to tell Harry about the defeat of the Dark Lord. They gleefully explained that when Voldemort had tried to kill his older brother, the spell had rebounded off of him and hit the Dark Lord instead. James had then pulled up Jake's shirt and showed Harry the zigzag cut upon his raven haired brother's chest and explained that this was where he had been hit with the curse.

Harry had blinked in confusion after hearing this information. He had thought his brother had gotten that cut from a fallen piece of debris, not from the Dark Lord. In fact, he had been sure of it! And Harry had known for a fact that the mean man who had attacked his family had only pointed his wand at him and not his brother. He remembered the feeling of the curse hitting him perfectly! So that meant _he_ had been the one who killed the Dark Lord. Harry was going to protest against what his family was telling him and explain what really happened, when the impact of what he did finally hit him.

Harry remembered the way his little heart had clenched perfectly as he realized what he had done to the Dark Lord, when he realized he had _killed_ someone. Harry may have been merely three years old, but he knew the difference between right and wrong. He also knew that killing was a horrible, unforgivable, and just plain _wrong_ thing to do, and Harry had done it. It didn't matter that the victim had been an incredibly evil man that had been set on murdering his family; it didn't make what he had done right.

When Harry had looked up at his mother and father's beaming faces as they watched Jake atop his father's knee, the messy-haired child understood that if he were to tell his parents the truth about that night, their prideful faces would be directed at him. That his parents' attention, along with that of the wizarding world, would all be directed at him for the 'amazing' task he had accomplished, and not his brother.

But Harry remained quiet.

The prize was wonderful, yes, but the toddler didn't want it if it was for killing someone. He shouldn't be rewarded for such a thing; he doubted his conscious could handle it. Jake didn't deserve it either, but it seemed his older brother saw no wrong in taking the lime light. He seemed to love it.

So, as the weeks went by Harry watched alone from the sidelines as his brother was bathed in affection and attention, while his parents practically neglected their youngest son in favour of the boy-who-lived. The temptation to tell his parents the truth was always there, and usually the strongest when he would awaken from a terrifying nightmare about _that_ _night_ to have only a small, plush dragon for comfort. But Harry still refused to breathe a word to his parents, or anyone else for that matter.

-

- - -

- - - - -

It was a cool and calm December night. Large, fluffy snowflakes fell gently from the star specked sky, covering the earth in a thick blanket of white. If you were quiet enough, the sound of Christmas carols and loud laughter could be heard, floating from distant houses as they celebrated the joyful and expectant day of Christmas Eve.

A lone, minuscule figure stood out in the cold night air, clad in a small pair of black boots and an undone winter coat. Green eyes hidden behind a pair of circular glasses gazed out upon the significant amount of land that made up the front yard of Godric's Hollow. It was chaos inside his house as his family hurriedly made last minute preparations for the guests that were due to arrive any minute. Harry had decided to wait outside after the second time his father had tripped over him and he had gotten a small verbal lashing.

Now Harry stood out in the cold and waited with anticipation for the two forms of his Dad's best friends, Uncle Remus and Sirius, to appear through the night air. Harry adored his two 'Uncles'. They both were such a character, and Harry admired how their presence always managed to lift his spirits. Unfortunately with Sirius' Auror duties, and Remus' traveling around the world, it wasn't often Harry got to see his Uncles, especially together. So therefore Harry was very excited about this Christmas since the two would be staying at Godric's Hollow for a few days, and it would be their longest visit yet.

Harry was pulled from his musings when two distant, yet distinguishable '_cracks'_ were heard from the other side of the simple wooden fence that surrounded the yard. Harry's eyes lit up with childish hope as he watched two shadowed figures walk through the gate and into the moonlight where their faces became visible.

"Uncle Remus! Uncle Siri!" Harry ran joyfully towards the men at such a fast pace that he had no time to slow down before crashing into Remus' legs and hugging them tightly.

Remus let out a small chuckle after finding his balance once again and bent down to pry the animated toddler off of his legs and up into his arms. "Well, hello to you too!" Remus smiled.

"Oh? Where's my hug?" Sirius' bottom lip stuck out in a playful pout.

Harry started to squirm a little in Remus' arms so his torso was twisted and his arms reached out for Sirius. Sirius lifted Harry out of Remus' arms gently and into his own embrace with the green-eyed child. Harry wrapped his arms tightly around the blue-eyed man's neck and squeezed tightly for a few seconds before letting go and leaning back slightly.

"What are you doing out here all by your self, kiddo?" Sirius asked as he ruffled Harry's hair.

Harry smiled slightly at the sign of affection and replied quietly, "Mummy and Daddy were busy."

"Do they know where you are?"

Harry gave a small shrug of the shoulders. He doubted very much that his parents knew where he was right now; he doubted that his whereabouts for the last hour or so even crossed their minds.

"Harry, you know you need to tell James and Lily where you're going," Remus gently reprehended, "I bet they're worried about you."

Harry was quiet but gave a small nod. Remus smiled down at the three-year-old to show that he wasn't mad and there were no hard feelings. Harry smiled back.

Sirius ruffled Harry's locks again before suggesting that they go inside, "I don't know about you two, but I'm chilled to the bone…"

"Maybe it's because you're just wearing a t-shirt," Remus muttered good-naturedly.

"…and am dying for one of Lily's freshly baked gingerbread cookies," Sirius finished, ignoring Remus' comment.

Remus and Harry agreed, though the latter a little hesitantly. Harry didn't really want to go inside, for a number of reasons, but the main one was because of Remus and, especially, Sirius. He loved his Uncles dearly, and didn't want them to start ignoring him like his parents did. The green-eyed child doubted that Remus would, but he wasn't so sure about Sirius. Sirius was Jake's godfather after all, and it would only make sense for him to love and pay more attention to his godson then Harry himself. It would be the first time Sirius would see Jake since the attack a couple months ago, and with his brother's newfound status as 'the-boy-who-lived', Harry wouldn't be surprised if he was completely forgotten by his father's ebony-haired friend.

Harry tightened his hold on Sirius's arm slightly as he, Remus, and Sirius traveled up the snow covered path towards the front door. Right when Remus had his hand out, ready to rap the door to announce their presence, a contorted image appeared through the disfigured panes of glass. Barely a second later, the door swung open to show the beaming face of Lily Potter.

"Remus! Sirius!" she exclaimed before leaning over and placing a friendly kiss on both of their cheeks. "I'm so glad you two could make it! I see you got here in one piece." She looked over at Sirius with a knowing smile as she said the last bit.

"It happened one time Lils! One bloody time! Jeez, splinch yourself _once_ and they never let you live it down," Sirius muttered with an annoyed tinge to his voice, but the twitch of his lips gave him away.

Lily gave a small snort before ushering the two men inside. "James is just upstairs helping Jake put on his new outfit. Oh, you should see him…The perfect little gentleman…," Lily drifted off as she walked into the living room. Sirius set Harry down on the wooden bench in the foyer before quickly helping him remove his winter coat and boots, and then removing his own. Remus did the same.

Harry grabbed a hold of Remus's larger hand as he, Sirius, and Remus walked into the Christmas wonderland that was the Potter living room. Holly, mistletoe, and paper snowflakes were hung everywhere, and not a table went without a decorated, miniature Christmas tree. Small, randomly placed snowmen danced around the room as they magically swung to the Christmas carols playing in the background. The blazing fire danced to its own majestic tune as it flared in the Potter's immaculate fireplace, casting the room in a soft and cozy lighting, while the tall, lush and beautifully decorated Christmas tree sat in one corner, twinkling away.

The men and child walked over to a red, plush couch and sat down in it right as Lily walked in with a silver platter full of her famous gingerbread cookies. As soon as the platter hit the table, Sirius had leaped out of his chair with an uncharacteristic squeal of "Cookies!" before crouching in front of the bowl and stuffing them in his mouth at a rapid pace, one after the other.

"Whoa, Sirius! You're going to choke yourself! Slow down!" Lily scolded with a smile.

Sirius smiled sheepishly through a mouthful of gingerbread and swallowed thickly before grabbing a moderate size handful and sitting back down.

"So how have you two…" Lily was cut off by a clamoring sound coming from the stairs a second before a little boy with straight, ebony hair and hazel eyes appeared in the doorway leading from the foyer.

"Siri! Remus!" Jake squealed before running at a fast pace towards the couch they were sitting on. In his hast to wiggle himself in between his Uncles, Harry, who was sitting on the edge of his seat in-between Remus and Sirius, was pushed off of the couch and landed with a small '_thump_' on his side, head missing the corner of the table by mere inches.

"Jake! Watch yourself! You pushed Harry right off of the couch," Sirius reprehended.

"Be more careful next time," Remus added as he got up to help Harry back onto his feet. Harry was grateful for his Uncles' support, since he knew his mother wouldn't have come to his rescue. She would have placed the blame on Harry somehow, whilst denying her golden child had done anything wrong. For the most part, Harry was not disappointed.

"Remus, Sirius, it was just an accident. Harry shouldn't have been sitting so close to the edge. Besides, Jake-y didn't mean anything by it, did you honey?" Jake shook his head back and forth in response to his mother's question, then leaned over to Sirius and wrapped his arms around the man's side in a tight hug.

Sirius hugged back, though absentmindedly so, as his thoughts were slightly occupied by Lily's response to what just happened. Looking over at Remus, who was now sitting on the couch once again, this time with little Harry perched on one of his knees, Sirius could tell that the lycanthrope was pondering the same thing.

Their musings were interrupted though when James appeared in the doorway. "Padfoot!" James declared overdramatically and spread his arms out wide as if to hug said man from across the room, "Moony!" He repeated the action towards his other best friend, "So nice of you two to join us." James sauntered over to the couch in a very suave manner, acting as if he were some high-class snob. The Santa Clause hat that was perched atop of the infamous Potter locks made the whole scene rather humorous.

Remus and Lily just rolled their eyes at the man's antics, while Sirius let out a bark of a laugh. "Jamie-boy, I thought you were done with trying to impress Evans here." Sirius raised a hand to indicate the smiling redhead.

James grinned at this and started walking towards Lily. He wrapped one of his arms around her waist and pulled her close before pressing his lips against hers in a gentle, quick kiss. He then turned around so he was facing his fellow Marauders and kids, and started walking over to them, about to say some witty comment, when he tripped over the rug, and landed flat on his face. Everyone laughed.

And so for the next hour and a half or so, the three marauders chatted with Lily about topics that ranged from their jobs to Quidditch. The two kids sat and listened to the adults talk for a few minutes before they got bored and went to play with their toys. Lily excused herself at random intervals so she could prepare dinner for the night. Soon, the smell of roast wafted throughout the house, causing Sirius to actually drool, which caused his friends to laugh.

At about 7:00 that night, Lily had ushered everyone into the dinning room to take their seats. After she had helped Jake up into his chair (and Harry had scrambled into his own) she sat down and with a flick of her wand, the food appeared.

It was quite a sight. The food looked absolutely amazing, and as they all dug in, any one of them would preach about the tantalizing flavour of the roast, carrots, mashed potatoes, corn, or anything else that completed the picture atop the Potter's dining table.

Dinner was quite an enjoyable affair. The talk was light and pleasant, and the food was delicious and filling. Harry, for the most part, enjoyed himself dearly. It was the first time since the Dark Lord had attacked their home that he actually felt like a part of the family. His Mum and Dad even started a small conversation with him, just like old times. By the time dinner and desert was finished, Harry was practically all smiles, even despite his small stomach ach.

The group of people settled down in the living room once again, their stomach's full, and their smiles content. They chatted away about random topics, until the matter of the Dark Lord came up.

Jake had been pulled onto James's lap as Lily and James explained what happened two months previous.

"Lily and I were just sitting around the living room that night, watching Jake and Harry play and run around after eating half of their Halloween candy, when suddenly the alarm went off, indicating that the apparation wards had been breached. Not even a second later the front door had been swung open and this hooded figure stood in the doorway. We knew instantly who it was, so I yelled at Lily to take the boys upstairs and hide, but Lily being the stu-"

Lily cut in, "Caring and loyal wife that I am,"

"-bborn…" James stopped that train of words at the look he received from his wife, "…anyways, Lily hesitated for a few seconds before grabbing the kids and heading for the stairs. Before she could go up them, Voldemort hit her with the _Dream Devil_ curse, which rendered her unconscious. I tried to distract the bastard…" Lily gave him a glare then pointedly looked at the children, "…I mean, the Dark Lord, but he ended up pointing his wand at me, chaining me to the wall, and putting me under the _Dream Devil _curse also."

Lily continued the rest of the story, "Dumbledore says that after we were both unconscious, Voldemort turned his wand onto the boys. He says that when Voldemort tried to use _Avada Kedavra_ on Jake, it bounced off of him and hit the Dark Lord instead. See the scar on his chest…" James pulled up Jakes shirt,"…that's were he was hit with the curse."

"Voldemort isn't gone for good though," Remus added quietly.

Lily turned to look at him with woeful eyes. "No he isn't. Dumbledore says that one day the Dark Lord will return, and when that day comes it will be up to our little Jake-y here to stop him."

James looked down at his son who was quietly playing with a plush Gryffindor lion atop his father's knee before speaking, "Poor little guy. He has all this responsibility on his shoulders, and at such a young age."

Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius all gazed down at the hazel eyed child. Lily and James pondered about what was ahead for their little hero, while Remus and Sirius tried to comprehend what they were just told.

"What I don't understand is, if Jake was the prophesized child, how come Harry is still alive?" Remus pondered quietly aloud.

Lily and James exchanged a look of confusion then glanced at Harry, then at Remus, then back at each other.

"To tell you the truth, that never really crossed our minds. I guess Voldemort never got a chance to kill Harry. He must have tried to hurt Jake before his brother, that's all," Lily replied with a reassured look upon her face.

"Oh," Came Remus's reply, though it didn't exactly sound like he fully believed that story. Remus had known these kids since the day they were born, and from the first moment Remus had held little Harry in his arms, his keen senses had sensed something within the child, and he recognized it for what it was right away. It was power. Raw, undiluted power, hidden away within the small child's soul, the core of his magic. And when Remus had held Jake for the first time, it felt exactly like what holding a baby would feel like. There wasn't anything more special about Jake, then there was about any other baby out there. But Harry was different. And it was for that reason that Remus wasn't completely sure he believed the story his fellow Marauder and his wife had just told him.

"Well," James rubbed his hands together for a quick second, "It's getting late and by the looks of it," James looked down into his lap where Jake's head was drooping in fatigue, "I think it's bedtime for our little hero here."

Slowly and gently, James scooped the half asleep figure into his arms and gently stood up, as to not arouse his son from his state of half awareness. Lily stood up also, and followed her husband and son towards the stairs. Harry, who had been sitting cross-legged on the floor with his plush dragon in his lap and head sleepily lying on top of it, got to his feet drowsily at the sight of his parents retreating backs, and followed them up the stairs, leaving Remus and Sirius by themselves.

The two remaining Marauders watched this happen in slight shock. It was almost as if James and Lily had forgotten Harry was even in the room. But that couldn't have been it. James and Lily always treated their sons equally, showing one no more love and attention than they did the other one. That's how it had always been, and James and Lily were always careful too keep that balance in order to avoid child rivalry or anything along those lines. So the question that kept popping up in both men's minds was why had they just ignored Harry?

It appeared the title of boy-who-lived had affected the Potter family more then they were willing to acknowledge.

TBC…

A/N: And there is the second chapter. It was originally supposed to be like 4x this size, literally, but then it would have taken 4x the amount of time to get it out, and I figured it was about time I updated.

Thank you so, so much to everyone who reviewed. There were so many! They make me so happy! Especially since this is only my second story ever and my first wasn't that good at all.

If you have any questions, write them in a review and I'll try to answer them for you.

Please Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Everything belongs J

Disclaimer: Everything belongs J.K. Rowling. I own nothing.

A/N: Just incase it wasn't clear or I didn't mention it in the last chapter, Remus is Harry's godfather, and Sirius is Jake's. I think it would make more sense for Sirius to be the godfather of the first born child instead of the second. I don't think this fact is really important for the plot of the story, but just so you know…

Chapter 3

Holiday Cheer  
Pt.2 of 3 

To say it was early when Sirius first heard the clambering of a small set of feet padding through the halls, squealing "It's Christmas! It's Christmas!" would be an understatement. James, Lily, Remus, and himself had stayed up to about midnight the previous night, catching up and chatting about things that were inappropriate for Jake and Harry to hear, therefore he was tired. A gorgeous man such as himself needed his eight hours of sleep, after all. When he rolled over onto his side, so he could see the green numbering on the digital clock, he was not pleased to see that it was only 5 o'clock in the morning.

After coming to the conclusion that going back to sleep was probably not an option, Sirius decided that getting up was the only other choice. The ebony haired man swung his legs over the side of his bed and threw the sheets off of his torso, while letting out a loud yawn. After rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he got up and made his way to the door, with visions of coffee cups dancing in his head.

After making his way down the stairs and into the kitchen, he was greeted with the sight of three half awake adults and two overly excited toddlers.

"Uncle Siri!" Jake squealed as he jumped out of his seat at the kitchen table, where he had been indulging in a plate of bacon and eggs, and ran over to his godfather for a good morning hug. "Guess what! Guess what!" the energetic four year old was practically bouncing in his spot. Sirius dimly wondered how his godson could possibly have that much energy at a quarter past five in the morning, but pushed the thought to the background before replying with a smile, "What?"

"St. Nick was here!" At Sirius' mock incredulous look, the toddler continued, "He was! He really was! And you should see all the things he left! There's a pile this high," Jake put his hand at first at about half of Sirius's calf level, then slowly raised it to about his knee level, before the child continued in his ramblings, "And there's presents for you and Uncle Remus and Mummy and Daddy and Harry and me! Mummy and Daddy even said that since I was a good boy this year and was so brave against you-know-who, St. Nicholas may have even brought me more gifts then usual!"

Sirius gave an unsure glance to Lily and James, before returning his gaze and smile to the animated hazel eyed child and stating overenthusiastically, "Wow! That _is_ exciting news, isn't it?"

The toddlers smile grew and his bouncing increased somewhat as he replied with, "The best!"

Sirius walked over to the counter and poured himself a cup of his beloved coffee. After adding two spoonfuls of whitener and sugar, he sat down at the kitchen table in-between Harry and Remus, and took a gulp from the cup.

"Sleep well?" Remus questioned with a smirk after observing his friends obviously sleep deprived state.

Sirius gave a noncommittal noise through the coffee cup that was still held up to his mouth, before lowering it and replying, "Like a rock. Until the lovely parade came trotting through the halls," Sirius let out a sigh and rested his head on his hand as he took another swig of coffee.

Remus let out a chuckle, and patted Sirius on the back in a sympathetic way, "I hear you, Sirius, I really do."

After a few minutes of quiet chatter, the six occupants in the kitchen moved their slowly awakening bodies (excluding the children, who practically skipped) into the living room, where they would open their presents. When Sirius saw the small mountain of presents that surrounded the glorious Christmas tree, his eyes widened to saucers. Sure, he had seen James and Lily place them there last night, but it was dark, and Sirius had no idea there were _this_ _many._ Fatigue completely forgotten, Sirius ran over to the tree and swiftly kneeled in front of the presents and picked one up. After reading the name, and obviously not finding what he wanted, he set it back down and picked up another one. After two more gifts had been examined, he exclaimed a little "aha!" and picked up the gift he had been eyeing and sat down on one of the couches.

Lily laughed, "I swear Sirius, you're as bad as the kids!"

"Hey! I resent that!" Sirius said indignantly as he tore into the package with such vigour, those pieces of wrapping paper flew all over the room. After it was all off, he was left holding a circular Christmas container, which he promptly opened. After emitting a high-pitched squeal, very much like the one that escaped him the day before, Sirius dug into the gingerbread treats Lily had given him, popping two at a time.

"Sirius!" Lily warned.

With a sheepish grin, the ebony haired man replied, "Sowy!" through a mouth full of cookies, and slowed his pace of consuming the gingerbread delights.

The next hour past by in a blur of excited exclamations, laughs, taunts, and jokes as the group of six ripped through gift after gift until the only one who still had any left was the boy-who-lived, himself.

The fact that Jake already had a noticeably larger pile of presents than anyone else in the room, including Harry, did not escape the grasp of Remus and Sirius. Though the two may have disapproved of the unfairness of how James and Lily so blatantly favoured their eldest son lately, the animagus and lycanthrope kept these thoughts to themselves. It was not in their place to tell their friends how to raise their children, and they doubted that their observations over the last day or so would be welcomed, even if they were true.

--

Harry had had a great time opening up his gifts. He had gotten many things from chocolate and magical games to clothes and books that he probably wouldn't be able to read for another ten years. The green-eyed child had only been slightly hurt when he had seen the significantly larger pile of presents that sat beside his brother, but when Sirius and Remus had offered to show him how to play Exploding Snap, he practically forgot about it.

Half an hour later and Jake had finally finished opening the last gift (a toy snitch that fluttered around the head of whoever activated it until caught). Everyone had then ventured upstairs and back into their designated rooms to get dressed and prepare for the day ahead of them.

After Harry had struggled to slip on a fresh pair of pants, shirt, ect, the dark-haired toddler had walked back down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he took a seat on one of the stools at the kitchen table. He was the first one down the stairs, so he had decided to wait for the rest of his family (Sirius and Remus included) to finish with their freshening up.

Not even a couple of minutes later, a loud commotion, followed by a mirthful outcry of laughter, was heard from the top of the stairs. Harry quickly turned his head to see what all the noise was about. Jake trotted down the staircase in-between their parents, hands held, as they laughed and swung their son from step to step as they climbed down the staircase. Their faces were alight with so much happiness and love, that it could have brightened any room. It was the perfect picture of the perfect family. And Harry's heart ached. He looked away.

To see his family like that, so joyful and affectionate hurt the toddler dearly. It wasn't the fact that his family was so happy; it was the fact that he was denied that feeling. The feeling of happiness that could only be supplied with the care of a family. The feeling of love, of being wanted, needed, and protected from the outside world. It was these things that Harry missed most about his life before the attack, and it was times like these that he found himself willing his conscious away so he could tell everyone the truth. But it never worked, and Harry would always remain quiet in the end, and today was no different.

A few minutes later and Remus and Sirius had finally shown up downstairs. Just the sight of his Uncles improved Harry's mood quite a bit. He knew that the two men still cared about him even though Jake was the one who supposedly saved the wizarding world. He could tell by the way they talked to him, like they loved him. Knowing this made the child so happy. He had feared that they would start acting like his parents had, and to know that he was wrong, and that they still truly cared about him relieved the green-eyed child immensely. He really did love his Uncles.

Harry was just about to call the two older men over when James spotted them and called them over to check out his new cleansweep before Harry could even open his mouth. Sirius had practically ran over to the broom, his what some would call 'unhealthy' obsession with Quidditch kicking in, while Remus gently declined the offer. He had never been one for the sport, most likely because anything more than four feet above the ground gave him the willies.

Seeing that his godfather had declined his father's offer, Harry quickly called him over. Remus smiled at the invite and walked over to the table Harry sat at, and pulled up his own stool before engaging the toddler in a small conversation.

For the rest of the morning, everyone decided that it would be nice to just lax around the house, enjoying each others company and trying out the new knickknacks that everyone had received for Christmas.

When noon arrived, Lily called everyone into the dinning room for sandwiches and tea (or juice in the children's case). They had all finished up fairly quickly since the meal wasn't a heavy one, and then moved their festivities outside and onto the front lawn where a massive snowball fight took place. The teams were Harry, Remus, and Sirius versus Jake, James, and Lily and the only rule was no magic.

As soon as everyone had gotten outside, the war had begun. At first, the action had been only minimal, with the odd snowball thrown at the opposing team, as both sides made a pile of ammunition and a suitable fort to duck behind. But soon enough, the game began. Snowball after snowball was thrown, pegged, tossed, and hurled across the yard.

Laughter, playful taunts, and the crunching of snow rang through the air like a small orchestra to their festivities. The game went on for what seemed like hours, and Harry enjoyed every second of it. It was like a repetitive task that changed every time. Roll, pack, throw, hide, roll, pack, throw, hide. Harry threw with vigour, pausing only to find a new hiding spot or restock. He did not aim, he only threw, snowball after snowball. Therefore, when a loud cry pierced the air, it took Harry completely off guard.

Harry turned swiftly in his spot to see what had caused his brother's tears and came face to face with the scene of Lily holding Jake in her arms as he held tightly onto his eye while Lily tried to shush him by rocking him back and forth. Instantly Harry felt a pang of worry rush through him and was just about to start walking over to see if his brother was alright, when a piercing yell echoed through the air. "Harry James Potter! Come here this _instant_!" Harry was puzzled, but knew not to disagree with his father, especially when that particular voice was used. He quickly strode over to his father. "Why would you do this?" James thundered, "What in the name of_ Hades_ possessed you to attack your brother like that? Giving him a black eye, what the hell was that! That was completely uncalled for! I don't want any excuses, I don't want any complaints. Go over to your brother and apologize, then move that sorry butt of yours up to your room! I don't even want a _glimpse_ of you till dinner! Do I make myself clear, child?"

"Wha…but Daddy, I didn't…I didn't mean…"

"I said do I make myself _clear_!" James roared. Harry shrank a little in response, but nodded his head quickly, seemingly unable to find his voice at that moment.

Remus quickly intervened, "Now James, I'm sure it was just an accident! There's no need for this, besides its Christmas…"

James shot the lycanthrope a glower, "Remus, you're not by any chance telling me how to punish my child, are you? Because last time I checked you had none."

"James, stop acting like such a dick! Harry did nothing wrong, and nor did Remus! So stop attacking them!" Sirius defended.

"Sirius, Remus, j-just forget about i-it, please," Harry stuttered quietly, finding his voice. The telltale prickling of tears started to form behind his eyes, but he pushed them away, not wanting to let them fall. He remembered a time when he could cry freely in front of his parents, back before the attack. He would be instantly engulfed in a hug, and told that everything would alright. And it always was. But he knew now that tears would bring no sympathy from his parents, and everything was not alright. So why cry when he didn't need to?

Harry walked over to where Jake was still sobbing his heart out in his mother's arms and whispered a small, "I'm sorry," before walking away and up to the house, trying to ignore the glare his mother was giving him.

He walked into the foyer and struggled out of his hat, gloves, coat, boots, and snow pants, before continuing up the stairs and into his room, all the while pondering about what had just happened, what his father had just said. This only resulted in the prickling behind his eyes to become harder and harder to ignore.

After arriving in his room, he closed the door tightly behind himself and fell onto his bed. He pulled his dragon against his chest and finally let the tears flow.

Harry didn't understand why his father had been so angry. He didn't mean to hurt his brother, it just happened! The whole time he had just randomly thrown all his snowballs, not aiming or trying to hit a specific thing. He just threw. The whole time he had done this and by accident one of the balls hit his brother in the eye. It wasn't on purpose! He didn't mean it! So why had his Daddy been so angry? Why had his mother looked at him that way? Why had they treated him like that? Harry was just so confused.

--

"James, what the hell is wrong with you?" Sirius yelled furiously. Sirius was angry. No, scratch that, he was beyond angry. He was pissed. And one glance at Remus told the animagus that he was no better off. What James had said to the green-eyed child both men had come to love was completely out of line. You couldn't just speak to a three-year-old like that; with so much spite and with such an accusatory tone. Harry was such a good kid, and if anyone bothered to look past his title of 'the-brother-of-the-boy-who-lived', they could see what a blessing he really was. Harry didn't deserve this treatment, and it broke Sirius' heart every time he thought of how resigned Harry was to follow his father's orders. But it also fueled his anger, which he promptly took out on his best friend.

"It was an _accident_, James! And you're acting like Harry planned it all out! Cooked up the whole idea when we were all sleeping last night or something! He didn't do it on purpose; anyone who wasn't blind could see that! Harry was half way across the yard; I'm surprised it even reached you!"

"Are you kidding me, Black? That snowball was _aimed_! I actually saw him do it! And you're telling me that it was an _accident!_? Are you crazy? Harry deserved that punishment. He's not going to get away with every goddamn thing he does just because it's Christmas! The boy needs to learn discipline. He had no right in hurting his brother like that," James argued.

"James, I know that Harry didn't purposely hit his brother, and I know you do too. And Harry's not a bad child, he's never been…" Remus was interrupted.

James glared daggers at his friend, "Remus, just shut up! I really am in no mood for one of your rants right now," James spun around swiftly so he was then glaring at Sirius, "The same goes for you too, Sirius! I don't want to hear it! My God, what the hell's the matter with you two? Both of you are acting like it's some sort of crime to defend your own son!" James yelled.

Sirius gave an exasperated sigh at his friend's words. He really couldn't believe how dense he could be sometimes. "We never said anything like that! It's just your acting…"

Remus cut off Sirius with a quiet statement, "Harry is your son, too, James."

There was silence after this as James stared dumbfound at Remus for a few seconds in confusion. He shook it off though, and trying to make up for his short absence of retorts, snapped, "Well no shit, Remus! Of course Harry's my son! What the hell are you talking about? That has nothing to do with anything!"

Remus sighed, "Yes, actually it does." James looked taken aback, but Remus continued, "James, you and Lily both have been favouring Jake lately, sometimes it's like you forget Harry is your son all together. Take right now as an example. You won't even consider that Harry hit Jake accidentally, but if the boys were to switch places you wouldn't believe anything but it being a small mishap."

"Okay, one, what are you talking about Remus! Lily and I love Jake and Harry both, with all of our hearts! And two, that's because Jake would never do something, like that!"

Remus shook his head tiredly and raised a hand to rub his temple. He could feel a headache coming on. He ignored his friend's last comment for the sake of saving himself from a full-blown migraine. "James, I've seen the way you two have been lately, and it certainly doesn't seem like the love is shared evenly among your children. Just look at this morning! When I came downstairs Harry's pajamas were on backwards, his toast was burnt and his little hands were covered in peanut butter. This all indicated that he had dressed himself and made his own breakfast at the age of _three_, whereas Jake, who is _four,_ was eating a perfectly cooked dish of bacon and eggs made by his mother. Now, it may have been just me, but it certainly _looked_ like you were favouring Jake, and things weren't like that five months ago when I last saw the boys."

Silence filled the air once again as James pondered his response carefully. A few seconds passed by, and finally James let out a tired sigh, and when he responded, he talked in a slow, quiet voice, as if he were considering each word carefully. "Remus, we love our kids equally, we really, truly do. I love Jake, and I love Harry. And that's all there is to it. It may appear like Jake is getting a tad bit more attention then Harry lately, but you have to understand; Jake did something extraordinary a couple months ago and saved countless lives. This boy is a legend and a hero to the whole wizarding world, and there is only a small amount of time left before the world reclaims their hero to be their savoir once again. And until that happens, Lily and I are going to do our damnedest to give this child the best childhood he could have asked for. Unfortunately, we can't spend as much time with Harry because of this, but it is a sacrifice we have to make. We'll make it up to him when he's older."

Remus remained quiet as he studied the man in front of him, for the first time noting the man's weary appearance. Raven locks that had always been messy by nature, seemed to be more so now than Remus could remember. Those hazel eyes that had always been alight with a hidden sparkle now seemed dull, although far from lifeless. Bruises sagged underneath them, revealing the many sleepless nights he had suffered through lately. There was a slight downturn of his lips, which had always been set in a smile, smirk, or that goofy grin for as long as anyone could remember. There was only one word to describe the man's demeanour, and that was tired.

For the first time, Remus realized that the revelation of Jake's fate was affecting James, and most likely Lily, too, a lot more then they were letting on. While they appeared to be all smiles and the perfect, happy, loving parents they had always been, it was now apparent that it had all been a show, masking their inner turmoil for the sake of the boys. He understood that both Lily and James were under a fair amount of pressure right then, and were doing what they thought was best for the current situation. But the lycanthrope also understood that while Lily and James tried their best to go on like nothing was out of the ordinary by lavishing Jake with affection and the childhood of his wildest dreams, they were denying Harry the childhood that rightfully belonged to him.

Even knowing all this, Remus nodded his head showing that he heard and was not going to retort to what James had just told him. The pressure was high in their lives right then, and Remus wasn't about to add to it by pointing out what they were doing wrong. James didn't need that right now, neither did Lily.

A relieved grin spread across James' face at the inclination of Remus' head, and some of the fatigue upon his shoulders seemed to lighten. He walked over to where his friend was standing and clapped a hand on his back. Remus smiled at the sign of 'no hard feelings' and then looked over to where Sirius stood silently in the foot of snow.

The animagus was unmoving, his face a mask of no emotions. Remus knew that his friend was deep in thought right then and probably thinking about a hundred miles per minute. He recognized this face from the many years they had spent a Hogwarts together, and he knew that Sirius was really confused on how he should act right then. Was he supposed to take the easy way and act like this argument over Harry never happened? Or was he supposed to take the difficult approach and continue yelling over an issue that would never be resolved? For the sake of everybody, Harry included, Remus prayed that Sirius took the second approach. The animagus would be no good for Harry if he wasn't even allowed to see him anymore.

A few seconds passed and James and Remus watched the man in anticipation, waiting for his response anxiously. Finally, Sirius gave a small shake of his head, almost like he was trying to dislodge thoughts from his mind, and gave a grin towards his friends, his face relaxing somewhat. Remus let out a sigh of relief, but the nervousness still lingered in the back of his mind. He knew Sirius wasn't okay with everything that had just happened, he was just setting it aside to deal with latter.

After the ebony-haired man had walked over and James had gave him a clap on the back, the proposition to go back inside arose, which they all agreed to do, seeing as how Lily had taken Jake inside sometime ago.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, except for Jake Potter (mine)and the song (Evanescence).I own nothing.

…_Words…_ Dream

Chapter 4

Holiday Cheer  
Pt.3 of 3 

Two relatively quiet hours had passed since the grand climax of the snowball fight, and everyone appeared to be much calmer then they were during the screaming fest. Remus was currently lounging in one of the comfy, plush chairs scattered around the Potter's living room, conversing with James and Sirius about random topics of interest. Both men were quite calm and serene compared to their uptight attitudes out in the yard, which was a relief for Remus, who also felt quite peaceful and comfortable settled in the chair with a cup of warm tea resting on the arm. Lily had excused herself about a half-hour ago so she could prepare the Christmas dinner for that evening. The familiar tantalizing fragrance lolled in the air, foreshadowing the magnificent meal that lie ahead for them. Jake sat at a small child size table placed in the living room, drawing some unidentifiable figure to hang up on the refrigerator door for the world to see. His eye was only slightly bruised and swollen, but there was no pain for that had been taken care of with magic. All and all, Remus thought it was quite the enjoyable scene; that is, until his eyes rested on a picture of Harry on the mantelpiece.

Instantly, he felt sadness enter and spread throughout his being. Everyone seemed so happy and content down here, surrounded by the cheerful and festive decorations, and it pained him to know that Harry couldn't enjoy this experience with the rest of the household. Harry deserved to have this happy memory implanted into his young mind. He should have been downstairs with everyone else, not upstairs, in his room, doing whatever toddlers do when they are terribly upset. He wished dearly that he could just run upstairs and grab Harry into his arms and bring him to the living room. He wished dearly to see his smiling young face illuminated by the glow of the fairy lights on the tree while he happily and joyfully drew some type of Christmas scene with his brother. But he knew he couldn't do that unless he wanted to have another argument with James. And that wouldn't make Harry smile at all.

"Remus…Remus….Remus!" Remus jumped in his chair when someone grabbed his arm and cussed aloud when he spilt the still scolding tea onto his pants. After muttering a quick cleaning charm he looked up into the sheepish looking face of Sirius Black. "Sorry about that...didn't mean to make you jump. You were just off in your own little world there, and Lily called us for dinner."

Remus looked up to see that James had already stood up and was smiling down at the scene in front of him. It amused the man when ever Remus was spooked by someone or something. It was always worth a good laugh, at the unfortunate expense of their lycanthropic friend.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," Remus absently muttered as he half-heartedly glared at his friend, causing said man to give a small chuckle.

"The meal smells amazing, hurry up and let's go eat!" James rubbed his hands together and licked his lips slightly as Remus rose from his chair, no longer glaring.

"Sounds like a good idea, but shouldn't one of us go get Harry?" Remus stated, and felt a minor pang of annoyance when James' smile faded at the mention of his son.

"Oh yeah…umm, maybe one of you two would like to do it? It's just, I think he may appreciate it more if you got him, plus I should really help Lily out with Jake…"

Remus ignored the growing pang of irritation towards his friend, and replied, "I'll go get him, he is my godson after all."

Sirius was about to object to that, and offer to go, when a small set of feet was heard scurrying towards him. Sirius looked over to see Jake running right at him. He prepared for impact, though it never came. The energetic boy stopped right in front of him and started to pull on his arm. He knew Jake was just a child, but he couldn't help the mild worry that the boy was going to tug his arm right off.

"Uncle Siri! Come look, come look! You gotta see the pie Mummy made! It's HUGE! And apple!" He tugged harder.

Sirius bent down and lifted the child into his arms. He let out a sigh. The boy had a good grip. "Okay, okay, let's go! You just point the way!" Jake lifted his arm and pointed a finger towards the door leading to the kitchen.

Sirius gave one last fleeting glance towards Remus and headed for the direction pointed out by the toddler in his arms.

Remus watched the retreating back of his shaggy haired friend with minor regret. Remus knew that Sirius would have liked to come with him to see how Harry was doing, but the man would just have to wait till the toddler came downstairs.

"Well, I'm going to go get Harry. We'll be with you guys in a few minutes, alright?" James nodded his head and started walking towards the kitchen. Remus turned around and headed up the staircase. He padded through the hallways silently and stopped just outside his godson's door. He stood quietly for a few seconds, trying to catch a noise of some sort that would indicate what kind of state the child on the other side was in. But there was no noise. Remus slowly creaked open the door.

The room was silent and appeared vacant at first glance, but after studying the lump in the sheets a little more carefully, they appeared to be moving. Remus quietly made his way over to the bed and gently sat down on the edge of it. He placed a comforting hand on the quivering lump and piercing jade eyes peeked up at him. Remus was relieved to see that they were neither red nor puffy from recent tears, although he could tell that at one point they had been shed. Remus slowly pulled off the blanket covering the head of the toddler so he could get a good view of the young face. His heart ached when he saw the fear and betrayal that was still written on the youths face from his father's words. Remus reached out a hand, and not knowing what else to do, took Harry's smaller one into his own. They stayed like that for about a minute, with no words being spoken, and Remus silently offering the young boy some support. Eventually though, the time came for Remus to brake the silence, which he did reluctantly.

"Harry, we can go down stairs now," Remus gently said.

Harry's response was barely above a whisper, but Remus caught every word, "Is Mummy and Daddy still angry at me?"

Remus shook his head slowly from side to side, "No, they aren't mad, but they do want you and me to come downstairs so we can eat supper. Your Mum even made a gigantic apple pie, your favourite."

Harry smiled slightly at this statement, though the werewolf could tell the toddler still wasn't quite sure. Remus watched as the boy started to wiggle out of his cocoon of sheets and slowly stood up from his bed. Remus also stood up from the bed and held out a hand for Harry to take. Instead of grabbing onto it though, Harry walked over to his Uncle and held up his arms with a pleading look upon his small face. Remus instantly crumbled under the youths request and lifted him up into his arms. Holding Harry securely, yet still loose enough for the child to twist his body slightly, Remus headed out the door and down the stairs.

--

Dinner past by rather slowly for Harry. It felt awkward for the toddler to be sitting there with his family, when he knew they were still angry with him. No matter what Remus said to reassure him, he knew that they were still upset. Harry had always had a gift of some how knowing an emotion someone was feeling, and right now he could feel annoyance and anger coming from his parents. Although it was greatly overshadowed by the positive emotions they were feeling right then, like humour from a joke someone would say or happiness from the whole scene itself, Harry could feel their displeasure for him buried under all the other emotions. This made the whole meal not very enjoyable, even with the apple pie.

After dinner they all moved into the living room and kept busy doing random things. When 8:30 rolled around Lily took Jake up to bed, with Harry once again following behind with no complaints. He had long ago become accustomed to getting ready for bed by himself. He trudged up the stairs absently, and impulsively turned left down the hallway towards his bedroom. He quickly changed into his pajama top and bottoms and turned off the lantern by his bed with a turn of a knob. After making sure the door to his room was open a crack to emit a sliver of light from the hallway, the toddler crawled under the warm blankets and stared out the frost covered window as he awaited the blissful unconsciousness that accompanied his dreams. Little did the small child know that as he drifted off into the realm of sleep, it would be filled with anything but bliss.

--

_Darkness…cold…freezing emptiness. Harry could feel chill creeping throughout his tiny bones. Spreading to every inch of his being. Where was he? He didn't know. Bugs were crawling under his skin. Squirming. And wiggling. It didn't hurt. But he could feel it. He could feel them. But he couldn't see them. The darkness was too great. But there was a dot. And it grew. And grew. And grew. And Harry could see a picture. It was moving. People were moving. Running. Screaming. Pleading. Begging for salvation. It was an anguished symphony chorusing through the houses. The streets were alive with the sound. There was fire. Dancing and swaying to the music. Engulfing everything in its path. Like the bodies of the deceased. And some of the living. There was so much blood. It was everywhere. Lots and lots of the crimson liquid. Puddles. Everywhere. Coating the ground. The trees. The people. Everywhere._

_The bugs started to crawl faster. It itched. Harry scratched._

_Cloaked shadows moved around. Conducting the symphony with their sticks. And their red lights that made the people scream. And convulse. And bleed. And their green lights, making them silent. And empty. And gone. Harry had seen the green light before. Somewhere. But where? That night. He'd heard the screams before, that night. From his Mummy. And his Daddy. And himself. And that bad man. With the red eyes. _

_The bugs squirmed even faster. It itched. Harry scratched. And scratched._

_The chaos continued. So did the screaming. And bleeding. And running. And shouting. And cursing. Lights flashed. Red and green. People fell. The fire consumed. The noise was deafening. And painful. His ears hurt. But so did his heart. But nothing could be done. He couldn't stop the cloaked shadows. Or the pain of the innocence. Or the pain in his heart. People plead for help. Begged. He could help! He could save them! But he couldn't move. But he could watch. And suddenly all was quiet. The chaos continued. But a shadow stood out from the rest. Laughter filled the air. Dark, unfeeling, mirthless. Evil. He looked at the shadow. The cloak revealed nothing. But then the shadow tilted its head up. The creature had red eyes. Like that man. Harry shivered. _

_Suddenly he was in the picture. In the chaos. The sound returned. He looked around. Death. Destruction. Fire. Pain. He ran to the nearest person to help. A burning feeling was filling his veins. White fire. He needed to stop their pain. But the person ran through him. And so did the next. And the next. He let out a cry. And suddenly the sound was gone again. Harry looked at the red eyed shadow. It smiled at him. Harry shivered. It lifted its hand, palm directed at him. Harry's feet left the ground. He sped through the air. And then he was in the man's arms. A hand wrapped around his neck. And tightened. Harry gasped. The man leaned forward. His breathe tickled his ear. He would have laughed. If his forehead didn't hurt so much. And the bugs under his skin would stop moving. And the hand around his neck wasn't so tight. _

_The shadow whispered into his ear. Its voice was that of the purely wicked. He couldn't help but listen closely. _

"_You're mine." The words burned into his skull._

_The hand around his neck released. And he fell to the floor. Shaking and shivering. And scratching. And clawing. The bugs just wouldn't stop squirming! And his head hurt so much. He wanted to hold it. Help make the pain in it go away. But he couldn't stop scratching. The scene was fading. All he could see were blurred figures. And all he could hear were echoed screams. But soon those faded too. He shut his eyes tight. His head hurt so bad! And the bugs kept crawling and crawling. He couldn't take it. _

_So he screamed._

--

Remus and Sirius had decided to head up to bed earlier that night than the one before. Both decided that it would be a good idea to get a good night's sleep that night since they were planning on catching the Knightbus early the following morning, and would need all the rest they could get before that traumatizing experience.

The two marauders were quietly trudging up the stairs, immersed in hushed and light conversation when a piercing scream echoed down the staircase, ringing through their ears, causing both their hearts to clench painfully in their chests. They knew that voice anywhere, whether in the form of a quiet whisper or an earsplitting cry. It was Harry.

Both men snapped into action, sprinting up the remaining stairs two at a time and racing down the hallway like their heels where set on fire. Once they reached the door that lead to the room of destination, both men flung it open and entered the darkened room. They stopped in there tracks, mouths opening in small, silent gasps at the scene in front of them. Moonlight filtered in through the iced window, providing a slight stream of silvery light that fell gently on the convulsing, whimpering boy writhing amongst the bed sheets that had been tangled around the youth' legs, exposing his upper half. The pajama top had been ripped open, exposing the child's stomach, and with it a gruesome sight. What looked like deep and bloodied scratches ran up and down the toddler's forearms and abdomen, oozing a dark substance out onto the youth's torn and broken finger nails, which appeared to be the culprit of the deep abrasions. The child's mouth was opening and closing pitifully, emitting soft gasps and pleas that were left unheard in their hushed tone. Arms and legs flung everywhere, hands leaving more and more deep incisions on the child's already torn skin. The boy's head flung back and forth, side to side, in a desperate attempt for the pain to stop, and the two men could see dark bruising encircling the child's neck and already turning a sickening bluish purple.

They stared on in horror for a few seconds before their bodies were able to catch up with their minds screaming '_Do something!'_, and they were finally able to run over to the shaking bed. After a few failed attempts of calling out the child's name, Sirius jumped on to the bed and tried to hold down the convulsing youth. Harry started to beat his small fists into Sirius' large form, leaving bruises in their wake. The animagus just ignored them, and started calling out Harry's name, trying to bring him back from whatever hell he was going through. Remus grabbed onto Harry's hands in a gentle, yet strong hold so they could no longer attack Sirius, and joined said man in the chanting of the erratic boy's name.

A minute passed. And then another. It most have been at least five minutes before the child finally stopped his seizure-like behaviour, and finally fell to a crumpled heap under Sirius, who promptly got off. The small body curled into himself, quivering and shaking.

The room was eerily quiet compared to the raucous that filled it only moments before. The only sounds that could be heard were the heavy breathes of the older men and the occasional sob emitted from the bent form on the bed. Slowly, Remus gently sat down beside the quivering boy and laid a hand atop the shoulder. There was an almost immediate response. Harry flung his injured arms around the surprised man and held on to his side as if for dear life, mumbling nonsense words like '_So cold'_ and _'Helpless'._ Unsure about what else he should do, Remus wrapped an arm around the quivering shoulders and pulled the boy in tight, whispering that it would be okay and that it was just a nightmare, although he himself highly doubted that. Harry seemed to have disagreed with what he was saying too, for Harry's arms instantly retreated and he started shaking his head back and forth rapidly.

"No! No...It wasn't a dream…it wasn't a dream…," he sobbed out, and seemed to get lost in his own thoughts as his eyes glazed over.

Sirius sat down on the other side of the out-of-it child and shook his shoulder slightly, knocking him back to consciousness. Harry's eyes seemed to focus back on Sirius, his lower lip quivering slightly as he held back more sobs. Seeing this, Sirius pulled the child to him and gave him a loving hug, trying to strengthen the child through this motion. Still holding on tightly to the boy, Sirius asked quietly, "What happened?"

Harry was quiet as he seemed to think about the 'dream' he had just had. He mumbled quietly into Sirius' shoulder, "It was cold… and there was a man and all these shadows. A-and there were people screaming, and they were asking for help. I tried to help them! I really did! I tried so hard…b-but I couldn't," he looked up fearfully at Sirius before exclaiming almost frantically, "You have to believe me Uncle Siri! I tried, I tried, I tried! But I-I…just…" He broke off with a fresh wave of sobs.

Sirius' heart ached horribly within his chest at the slight of the broken down innocent child. He held on to him tighter, mumbling reassuringly that it wasn't his fault, that he couldn't help it, and that it would be okay.

Eventually Harry calmed down, emitting only a few hiccups here and there, with only a few stray tears still streaming down his face. Remus, who was now sitting close to Harry's side, wiped them away. A minute or two passed in silence before Remus broke it by asking to see Harry's arms. Harry looked at him questioningly through his puffy eyes, before lifting them up for the adults to see, an expression of shock spreading across his face before quickly changing to realization.

"I was…itchy," he ran a finger over the incisions, and to the foremost surprise of the two men, the cuts started to close up. Soon, the only thing left were faint white lines, which also faded away into the skin, making the surface smooth and unmarred once again.

"Ha-Harry, what did you just do?" Remus asked in awe, taking the boy's arm onto his lap, and studying it for himself.

Harry looked at him unsurely before replying in a small voice, "I just healed it. It hurt," a worried expression spread across his features as he asked quickly, "Is that bad?"

Remus shook his head back and forth before giving Harry's little hand a reassuring squeeze before releasing it gently onto the youths lap. "No. No it isn't. It's just a little...surprising is all," Remus caught Harry's brilliant eyes with his own before asking, "Have you ever done this before? Healed yourself by just thinking it?"

Harry was about to nod his head and go into an explanation of how he healed the cut that red eyed monster gave him, when he stopped in his tracts. If he were to tell his Uncles about that cut, then they would know that he had been injured that night as well, and by the hand of the evil wizard, no less. This was not what Harry wanted. Just because he had a nightmare, didn't mean he had to tell everyone his secret about that night. He was stronger than that.

Instead, Harry told them that he had fallen out of a tree a month or so ago and had healed the bruises on his cheek and leg so his parents wouldn't find out about it.

As soon as Harry had said these words, Remus knew it was a lie. Harry was very graceful when climbing trees, and though it was believable that he had had a small mishap and didn't want his parents to know about it, the fact that he would have climbed a tree at the end of November, when the branches were cold and icy, was not. Harry was hiding something, and the lycanthrope had a feeling it had something to do with the night of the attack. The problem was he had no legitimate evidence to back up his theory, so he opted to stay quiet about it. For now.

Remus looked down at the now calm form of his Godchild, resting his head tiredly against Sirius' side, eyes closed in fatigue. He looked up into the sculpted face of his best friend and caught his eyes, both men silently agreeing that it was time to put Harry back to bed.

Sirius shifted his form slightly so he was able to lay Harry's drained body so it was lying flat on his bed, head drooping against the pillows. After tucking Harry into his covers, making sure he was secure and warm with his red dragon tucked under an arm, he stood up off of the bed, and walked over to the door where Remus stood waiting for him. Following the man out the door, he was just about to close it lightly, when a quiet and slightly timid voice broke the silence that had enveloped them.

"Uncle Siri?" Glowing green eyes peeked up.

"Yeah kiddo?" He responded softly.

There was a pause. "The man in my dream h-had red eyes." There was a slight rustling of fabric as Harry seemed to turn over, and there was silence once again.

Sirius closed the door quietly, his mind going a hundred miles a minute.

--

The following morning seemed to pass by slowly for everyone at Godric's Hollow, although when the time came to say goodbye to the two house guests, it still came too soon.

Everyone stood outside on the freshly fallen snow that covered the ground in the front yard. Lily grabbed onto Remus and then Sirius and gave them a couple rib crushing hugs, while thanking them for coming and wishing that they didn't have to leave so early. James did something similar to this, although his one armed hug wasn't as damaging to his manly pride as Lily's constricting embrace would have been.

Jake was crying a river, and as he was embraced by his Uncles, he cried loudly that he didn't want them to go, and had to be gently encouraged by Lily to release his bear-like hold on the two men.

Harry was the last one to say goodbye. All the sobs raking his brother's form and all the noises his parents made to try and calm him down fell to the background. Remus bent down and wrapped his arms lovingly around the straight-faced child, and held on tightly for a few seconds before letting go. Sirius had than engulfed the youth in a tight embrace and whispered that he loved him and would see him again soon.

As his two Uncles walked up to the side of the road and held out their wands to summon the triple-decker, Harry had to try very hard to keep a neutral face, but he had a feeling he was losing that battle. When the bus finally did arrive, Harry only got to see one fleeting glance of Remus' face before the doors quickly closed and the oddly coloured vehicle sped away.

He couldn't stop the single, traitorous tear that streaked a path down his cheek.

Once again, he was all alone.

_They'll never see  
I'll never be  
I'll struggle on and on to feed this hunger  
Burning deep inside of me  
But through my tears breaks a blinding light  
Birthing a dawn to this endless night  
Arms outstretched, awaiting me  
An open embrace upon a bleeding tree_

-'Lies' by Evanescence

And to everyone else who reviewed, thank you! You guys make my day! Yeah! Go you!

Please Review!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling. Except for Jake Potter (mine) and the song (Nickelback). I own nothing.

Note: If anyone sees anything in this story that resembles another story like xxlostdreamerxz's 'Darkly Treacherous' or any of the other stories out there, it is strictly coincidence. I received a review that said this was like the exact same thing as D.T., and I was accused of plagiarism. So let me set the records straight right now, all similarities are _unintentional. _D.T. is an amazing story, but I would never copy it, or any others for that matter. In fact, I don't even see how this is like D.T., since Harry isn't living with Voldemort and is going to go evil, and not just dark, like in xxlostdreamerxz's story. But anyways…I'm sorry for any likenesses this story has to any other fics, it's purely unintentional.

_/'...Wordsss...'/ _Parseltongue

Chapter Five

_One Step Too Far _

_All I ever really wanted was to be the same  
Equal treatment never ever comes  
And there they go again  
All I ever really wanted was to be like you  
So perfect  
So worthless  
If I could take it all back think again  
I would_

-'Breathe' by Nickelback

If Harry knew three years ago that he would be able to count the number of times he saw either of his beloved Uncles over the next few years on one hand, he was sure he wouldn't have let them go on that memorable Christmas. He missed his Uncles terribly, and it was only when they came for their sparse visits that he ever felt truly loved and cared about by anyone.

It had been two years since Voldemort had attacked their home. Two years since the world was first lead to believe that Jake was the one who destroyed the Dark Lord and deemed the boy-who-lived. Harry had had to suffer through two years of being constantly pushed out of the way so everyone could get to Jake. Two years of hiding in the shadowy corners where no one could see him, no one could yell at him. Harry had tried his hardest to be the perfect child; he'd wake up, get dressed, and make his own breakfast all by himself, so he wouldn't have to bother his parents. He'd never make a lot of noise when playing with his toys, and always shared with his brother. He'd even tried to do a few chores around the house, although this proved difficult since he was only five years old and couldn't even see over the kitchen counter yet. He'd done all these things to get his parents attention, to try to get their pride to be directed at him every once in a while instead of at his brother, but it never seemed to work. In fact, the only time he ever seemed to get his parents attention was when he did something wrong, and he would be scolded for not being more like his brother.

This always upset Harry. How was he supposed to be more like his brother when the second he started acting like him, he was sure to get a tongue lashing from his father for acting so improper. Whenever Jake did something wrong his parents would either laugh it off as something adorable or gently tell him that what he did wasn't right, but then they would let it go. If Harry did something wrong his parents would either strictly tell him that what he did was wrong or he would get yelled at. It just wasn't fair! He was trying, but it just didn't seem like it would ever be enough. His parents still said they loved him, but as the saying went, actions speak much louder than words.

Of course telling his parents the truth about that night was always popping up into his mind, but then he realized that it was probably no longer an option. By now, Harry was sure that he would be able to break through the hold that his conscious had held him in and would be able to confess that he was the one who killed the man he had come to learn was named Voldemort, but he doubted his parents would believe him. It had been to long since the attack had happened and by now it was just common knowledge that Jake had defeated the Dark Lord, and for anyone else to have done it would be preposterous. Besides, they'd just think he was doing it for attention. And even though it was true that he had defeated the Dark Lord, Harry couldn't help but guiltily think that it _was_ the only reason he would ever confess such a thing to anyone. The things he was willing to do for a parents love.

It was nearing the end of September, and the brightly coloured autumn leaves fell gently in the wind, adding to the piles that had been raked up by Lily with a swift flick of her wand. Harry and Jake had traveled to a clearing within the small forest that sat at the back of the Potter property. Once they had reached the opening that they had found years ago, they found a few piles of leaves Lily had obviously raked up for them beforehand, and they had gotten entangled in a leaf fight, stuffing leaves into each other's faces and down the other's shirt. After a few minutes of the intense struggle, both fell down into separate piles, exhausted from the small battle. It had been fun, but these things were always tiring.

Harry had just recovered his breathe when he thought he heard his brother say something, and he asked him to repeat himself. Jake, who seemed to also have recovered, looked at him quizzically and replied that he hadn't opened his mouth, so Harry just blamed the noise on a trick of the wind or something.

But then he heard it again, and he knew that it was no trick of the wind. It was definitely a voice of some sort, but for the life of him, he couldn't think of anyone who sounded like that. It sounded like the owner of the voice was angry at something. The 's' seemed to be abnormally prolonged, and Harry thought it was an accent of some sort, and was vaguely familiar sounding.

Harry's musings were interrupted when he heard a squeal from his brother and quickly looked over to see the boy jump up onto his feet and stare down at something a few meters away, an expression of fascination appearing across his face.

"Harry, look!" Harry stood up from his pile and walked over to where his brother was standing to see what he was pointing at. He was surprised to see what appeared to be a gardener snake slowly slither out of the bushes, tongue flicking in and out of its mouth, tasting the air.

"It's a snake," Harry stated unnecessarily.

"I know! Isn't it cool?" Jake started walking towards the scaled animal slowly, as to not scare it away.

With every step his brother took, the accented voice seemed to get louder, and now Harry could tell that whoever it belonged to seemed to be getting increasingly more distressed. When Jake had finally reached the serpent, he seemed to decide that he wanted to play with it, so he bent down and forcibly wrapped his hand around the prolonged form and roughly lifted it up into the air. As soon as Jake touched the snake, the unknown voice let out a string of nasty curse words and it was at that very moment that Harry realized it was the snake that had been talking all this time.

Jake was now holding the serpent out in front of him, griping its body tightly near the head, and looking at it with a captivated expression. Harry was vaguely aware that his brother seemed to be talking to him, telling him to come over and look at it, but Harry was to enthralled in the fact that he could hear a snake speak, and wasn't really concentrating on anything except for what the animal had to say.

_/'Ssstupid human…Let me down!...OWW!...Your hold isss too tight… much too tight…Damnit!...For the love of Salazar, you ssstupid mortal! Put me down thisss inssstant!...You are hurting me...It isss dificult to…breathe…'/_

"Harry! Come _on_! Before it escapes!" At the sound of the last shriek from his brother, he changed his stare from the snake writhing in his brother's arms to Jake's face.

"I think you should put it down," Harry said quietly.

"What? Why?" Jake stared at him like he had just proposed that they go jump off a ten story building.

"You're hurting it, so let it go," Harry stated, this time a little louder.

"How do you know I'm hurting it? I'm not hurting, I'm playing with it. See?" Jake started to swing the snake around him, as if it were some inanimate piece of rope.

Harry could feel something ignite within him at the actions of his brother. "Jake! Put the snake _down_! You're hurting it!"

"No, I'm not! God, it's just a snake Harry," Jake started to swing it more furiously around his head and accidentally hit it on a nearby tree.

"Jake! Stop it!" The fire started to spread through out his veins. He had to stop his brother. He was torturing a defenseless animal; Harry could hear it's pleas for himself.

A few moments passed by, where Jake repeatedly hit the snake against the tree, when a piercing yell echoed through the air, putting a stop to his 'game'.

"STOP!"

A wave of power accompanied the voice and struck him. Jake was quickly flung back into a tree with a _'thump'_ before sliding slowly to the ground. He looked up to see what had happened and was met with the sight of his brother, or at least what he thought was his brother, crouching in front of him. But something was terribly wrong with the other boy. His eyes were no longer their bright emerald colour so much like their mothers, but were now black and empty, almost soulless. A light wind that seemed to be under his control surrounded him, pushing his bangs up out of his face, and black magic seemed to pulse all around him.

Jake looked up fearfully into the creature's face, and when it spoke, it's voice was quiet, but seemed to ricochet off of everything in sight, "I told you to _stop_. Maybe you could listen next time."

And then he lost consciousness.

--

Harry stared in horror down at the unmoving form of his brother, slumped over at the base of the tree. A small trail of blood slowly ran down the side of his face, making Harry gasp. The fire that had seemed to envelope him had simmered down to nothing once he had finally stopped his brother from his games of torture with the snake.

The green-eyed child was incredibly frightened. He had no idea what had just happened. Well, actually that was a lie. He knew what had happened; he just didn't know why he had reacted so strongly to the distressed creature. When Jake had purposefully hurt the serpent for no apparent reason, Harry found himself getting an indescribable urge to stop his brother from his games. When Jake refused to listen to him, there was no other option, so Harry forcefully had to stop his brother. But a small shove would have done the trick, but instead he had rammed his brother into a tree, knocking him out. One thought ran through out his head. This was not good; this was not good at all.

Harry was about to kneel down beside the inert boy when the rustling of leaves was heard behind him, and Lily stepped out into the small clearing.

"Jake, Harry come on in for...for…" she trailed off at the sight of her unconscious and wounded son. She let out a small shriek before sprinting over to where Jake still sat, slumped over and quickly fell down onto her knees. She gave his small shoulders a little shake, "Jake! Jake! Can you hear me? Jake! Come on, wake up honey! Jake!" She was slowly becoming more and more frantic as she realized that Jake couldn't be awoken. Tears started to spill down her cheeks as she tried unsuccessfully to wake up her son.

She quickly spun around and looked over at Harry, who had been standing off to the side in hopes that he wouldn't be noticed. "Harry! Go get your father! Now! And hurry!" She turned back to her other son, "Oh Jakey..."

Harry turned and sprinted towards the house, knowing full well that if he took a long time to retrieve his father it would just cause a lot more problems. He ran in through the back door and kitchen and into the living room where his father was hunched over a desk, brow furrowed in concentration.

Harry only hesitated for a second, "Daddy," his father looked up at the sound of the timid voice.

"Yes? What is it Harry?" his voice was tinged in a bit of annoyance at having been interrupted from whatever business he had been doing.

Harry swallowed, "There…There was an accident. In the forest. Me and Jake were playing and he got hurt and Mummy's out there right now but she told me to get you because Jake won't wake up." He said the last sentence in a rush, trying to get it over with.

James quickly stood up, chair tipping over, and asked where they were.

"They're in the...in the clearing."

James walked out of the house at a quick pace that switched to a run once he was outside. Harry followed as fast as his small legs could carry him.

When they finally reached the clearing James ran over to where his wife and child sat, questions rapidly flying out of his mouth in-between the chants of Jake's name and small shakes of the shoulder. A moment or two passed before one of them came to their senses and remembered that they could wield magic. James swiftly extracted his wand from its holster up his sleeve and quickly muttered _"Enervate!"_

Jake groggily blinked up at his parents hovering faces before grimacing in pain. He quickly held up a hand to hold his head.

"Jake!" Lily exclaimed a moment before she engulfed Jake in a fierce, protective hug. James sat a relieved hand upon his son's shoulder. Harry stood off to the side awkwardly.

After the initial relief had passed the question Harry had been dreading, although knew inevitably would come, was asked by Harry's father, "Son, what happened? Who hurt you?"

Jake was quiet for a second, his eyes squinting in concentration as he struggled to recall what had happened. When the memory finally did return to him, his hazel eyes shot up to Harry in what appeared to be fear. When he spoke, his voice was small with surprise and apprehension, "It was Harry." Both heads spun around to stare at their forgotten son in shock for a few moments before quickly spinning back around to look at Jake as he explained the rest of the story. "We were playing in the leaves, and I saw a snake. I wanted to play with it, so I picked it up. Harry didn't wan t me to play with it, I don't know if he was jealous, but he just didn't want me playing with it. So he…he hurt me," He finished in a small voice.

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds, as the initial blow set in. The only noise was that of the wind distantly blowing through the trees. Harry found himself wishing that someone would break the silence, but as soon as that happened, he realized that it was actually the opposite of what he wanted.

In one swift, fluid movement James arose to his feet and shouted an incredulous, "What!" He spun around in his spot and quickly stocked over to his so far mute son. Towering intimidating over the youth, he all but yelled, "You did _what?_ You actually…you…you _hit_ your brother? Is that true? Did you actually intentionally…in _all serious truth_, you actually _hurt _your brother?" Harry gave the smallest of nods, to frightened to do much else. James clenched his fists in anger. "You did! What the _bloody fuck_ is wrong with you? Do you have any…_any_ idea whatsoever what your brother has ahead of him! Do you have any idea what he will have to deal with when he's older? The world is on this boys shoulder, and he's struggling enough! But what does his own _brother_ do? He knocks him out! He has enough strain as it is; he's just struggling to stand with so much weight on his little shoulders! And what do you do? You just push him over and laugh!" He paused to catch his breathe.

Harry took the opportunity to open his mouth and emit a whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Bollocks!" Was the yelled response.

And then it happened.

One of James' clenched hands flung up and slapped across Harry's young face with such force that he was knocked backwards and onto the ground.

Harry looked up at his father in fear as time seemed to stop. He was in shock. His father had hit him. He had never done that before. Harry was used to the tone of voice his father had used with him, he had heard it many times before, but never in a million years had he ever thought his father would ever physically hurt him. But apparently he was wrong.

James didn't say another word to his fallen son as he turned back around and strode over to where Lily sat with Jake in her arms. Lily glanced at her green eyed son for only a moment before her worried gaze returned to the one in her arms, and she slowly let out some coos, trying to calm him down after being knocked unconscious. James bent down and lifted Jake into his arms and started walking back towards the house, Lily following closely behind.

Harry laid on a blanket of autumn leaves, body trembling slightly as he watched the retreating backs of his family.

TBC…

A/N: Holy shit! A chapter! WHAT? But it hasn't even been 2 weeks yet! WOOHOO! Another new record! This is just crazy. But how wonderful! And okay, I'll admit that it's a little bit smaller than the other chapters, but look how fast I got it out! So that makes up for it, right?

Okay, I know a few of you are asking "WHAT? Why did James hit Harry! I thought this story was going to be different!" And to answer that question, it's because it's all part of the plot. It's all part of Harry being betrayed and abandoned by his family, and all this betrayal will pave the road to Harry eventually going evil. I think that was step 2 or 3.

Review responses:  
kat: LMAO! I love it! Can I steal it? I'm going to make this dark!sadistic!Harry. Technically he will still be evil, but by saying dark/sadistic it sounds way less harsh and stuff, eh? I still don't know if Harry will be the next Dark Lord or not, but I don't think he will be. But you never know. Thank you so much for reviewing!

LooneyLoopeyLupin: You are completely right! When people who are neglected by their parents or abused by someone when they are younger it makes sense for them to go evil, and Tom Riddle is the _perfect_ example! We're taking sex ed. in a couple of my classes right now and I learned that if a child is neglected, abused, or denied love from when they are born to around the age of 8 then chances are they will not be able to trust or love like normal people when they are older. This is further proof that Harry should go evil! Yeah!

I just wanted to tell you that you gave me the whole idea for making the animal in this chapter a snake. I was thinking of making it a kitty or something because everyone loves a cute kitty, right? But then you gave me the idea of making it a snake, which is perfect 'cause then there can be some parstletongue too! But no one realized that Harry could hear the snake speak. And as for all your other questions, they will be answered in time. Thanks for reviewing!

And to all you other wonderfully amazing, above-average reviewers out their, thank you so, so much! I appreciate every one of your reviews. I'm sorry I couldn't answer all of your questions, but I don't want to give away too much of the plot, or nothing will be a surprise anymore! And that won't be any fun, will it?

Please Review!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, except the song (which belongs to Flaw, and also inspired this whole story). I own nothing.

Chapter Six

_Condemnation _

After the incident in the forest, things got progressively worse for Harry. His brother no longer spoke or played with him. He was too frightened. Even being in the same room as his brother caused a slight tinge of fear to creep into those hazel eyes. Harry didn't like the way his brother looked at him; it made him feel like some sort of monster or a freak, so he took to avoiding Jake as much as he could. His brother had no complaints.

On top of his nil relationship with his brother, his appreciation and love for his father was also slipping away. James no longer held restraint when he was displeased with his green-eyed son. Instead of just yelling his displeasure with his son, he would now come up and cuff him on the back of the head or slap him across the face depending on his mood or what Harry had done. Of course this wasn't his daily treatment, since despite what his family thought, Harry was quite advanced to a certain level for his age, and knew how to stay out of trouble. Accidents did happen though, and that was when Harry received the blunt of his father's anger.

Harry had asked his mother one time why it was that his father always hurt him, and she seemed to adopt a bit of sympathy for her youngest son. She had hugged him and told him that she would speak to his father about it.

It was not until nearly a week later when the truth behind his mother's words were put to the test. Harry had been walking through the foyer, towards the staircase when he had tripped over one of Jake's toys and had fallen over. Instantly the room had been filled with ragged sobs, although Harry was not the one to emit them. Jake had been coming down the stairs at that moment and had seen his brother trip and break the castle he had built out of magical blocks, and had instantly broken out into tears.

The sound of the sobbing 7yearold had brought both his parents running to see what was the matter. It took a few moments for Jake to choke down his tears long enough to explain what had been the cause of his displeasure. When he did finally get the words out though, James had rounded on his youngest son, who still sat on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, absently cradling his injured knee and watching his parents try to calm his brother with wide green eyes. The older man had stomped down the stairs and cuffed Harry hard on the back of his head, and was about to launch into what was sure to be yet another rant on how idiotic he was, when Lily had spoken up from her position on the stairs.

"James, don't," her eyes bore into the back of his head, willing him to turn around and leave their son be.

James had turned around incredulously, and asked Lily to repeat herself. She had arisen from her position next to Jake and started down the stairs, coming up to stand right in front of James.

When she finally did repeat herself, that was when their argument began. It seemed to last for the better part of an hour. Harry and Jake had quickly scampered off to their rooms as soon as the yelling had commenced. Harry had left his door open wide, trying to catch some of what his parents were saying. The odd word had floated up into his ears, but by the time the house had finally fallen silently, he still had no indication on who had won.

The next day he found out.

His father had been in a rotten mood from the start; that was very apparent at the scowl that lined his features as the family sat in an awkward silence through breakfast. Harry took it upon himself to try and stay away from the man through out the day, and be on tiptoe when he couldn't avoid his father's company.

Even with all the precautions he had taken to steer clear of any potential danger, it seemed as if it were all in vein. The late afternoon sun was just about to fall into dusk, when his father barged out of his study in a huff. He had walked into the living room, where the rest of the family resided, and had asked Lily in an obviously frustrated tone if she had seen some important papers that had been resting on his desk. She had quickly shaken her head no, and returned to the book she had perched on her lap. James had then walked over to where Jake sat on the floor and crouched in front of him. After getting the child's attention he had asked in a somewhat strained, but patient voice if he had seen the papers. Jake quickly shook his head and James turned to the final occupant of the room. For some reason when Harry had denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the papers, James' weak hold on his temper seemed to vanish, and he slapped Harry rather harshly across his face, rapidly raising his voice and accusing him of lying.

When the hand had connected with his face, Harry's head had uncontrollably turned with the force of it. When his tightly shut eyes opened, they landed on the curled up form of his mother upon the couch, her eyes still glued on the book. James' accusations continued to ring out through the room.

His mother said nothing to stop him.

- - -

A few months after that, it was his and Jake's birthday. It was actually quite the coincidence that they were exactly one year apart, to the very day of July 31st. When they were younger, and before the attack, it proved to be a small blessing for the parents of the Potter children, since instead of throwing two different parties twice a year and making sure that one child's birthday wasn't any better than the others, they only had to worry about one large party for two.

It was no longer like that though. Since Jake acquired his fame, his parents had looked past their youngest son on his birthday in favour of the hero in the family. The first two years they still included his name and things like that on the birthday invitations handed out to family and friends, but by the third year they didn't even bother. It didn't really matter anyways, since usually the only ones who ever brought him a gift were Remus, Sirius and the odd witch or wizard. His parents didn't even bother with a gift anymore; they just handed him an envelope with a card and a few galleons jingling inside of it.

When Harry woke up on the day of his seventh birthday, he felt no joy, excitement, or any other emotion that was related to one on their birthday. He was not excited about the day that lied a head of him, or about seeing all the many familiar and foreign faces that would surely arrive today on their doorstep.

In fact the only thing that motivated the child enough to get up and out of bed to face the day before him was the fact that his Uncle Remus and Sirius were coming by later on that morning and would be staying for the party. Thinking about their beaming faces as they looked upon him, not Jake, but _him_ as he opened their gifts brought a small smile upon his face.

The first ones to arrive were of course Remus and Sirius. They had been quickly followed by many other people, including Mrs. Longbottom and her grandson, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and their four youngest children, a number of miscellaneous co-workers of James and Lily, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and a few other members of the Hogwarts staff.

Harry spent most of the day along side Remus and Sirius. Although there were many children at the party, they all seemed to be very hesitant in letting him join in their games. Well, that is everyone except the Weasley twins, Fred and George. They were two of the funniest and friendliest people Harry knew, and they never hesitated in offering for him to join in their fun. Harry usually declined the offer though, since he did not want to force his company on the other children when it wasn't wanted. The offer was still greatly appreciated though.

At around three o'clock that afternoon, Jake got to open his presents. Harry watched quietly with his red dragon held tightly under one arm as Jake tore through present after present. Harry's eyes bulged slightly when he first saw the humongous pile of gifts that covered the table in their foyer, each one of them with Jake's name written on it. Harry would be lying if he said that he wasn't slightly jealous of his brother, but he kept his mouth tightly shut and did not verbally complain. He couldn't help the odd vindictive thought that ran through his mind when Jake opened an especially nice gift, though.

After that, it was time for cake. The huge dessert was done up in the shape of a broomstick and snitch intersecting each other with a large 'Happy Birthday Jake!' written in red icing atop of it. Eight wizard's candles were stuck throughout the cake, and as they were lit, they started to dance. Everyone gathered around the dinning room table to watch as Jake blew them out, and cheered when the first slice of cake was cut.

About an hour later, the guests started to disperse, and left with a 'Happy Birthday!' to Jake. Right before Remus and Sirius left, they pulled Harry aside and gave him his gifts. Harry had smiled widely and quickly unwrapped them. Remus had given him a rare book on magical creatures and a large slab of his favourite Honeyduke's chocolate, while Sirius had given him a necklace with a beautiful emerald pendant. He said that the pendant was charmed to keep unwanted legimens out of the wearers mind. Harry had quickly slid the necklace over his head and tucked it under his collar. The two had then hugged the child close before departing.

At first, Harry had thought that his Uncles had been the last guests to leave, but that assumption was proven wrong when a quiet and aged voice spoke up from behind him.

"Ah, my dear boy, there you are! I had a feeling that you wouldn't be that difficult to find; I haven't the slightest why your parents disagreed so strongly with me," the long, white-bearded man who Harry recognized from all those years ago in the hospital wing as Professor Dumbledore smiled gently down upon Harry's small form, "Lily and James, along with your brother are presently seated in the living room, waiting for you and I to return to it." When Harry gave the aged man a look of confusion, the Professor continued, "I have asked them if I may speak to your family about some important news and information that has just recently been brought to my attention, and I thought that you and your brother's presence would be appropriate."

Although Harry was still very much confused and at a loss of what was so important that he and his brother would be able to listen in on it, he nodded his head and followed Dumbledore into the living room. Quickly moving so he was sitting down on the floor and resting his back on the base of the couch, Harry turned his gaze and waited quietly along with the rest of his family as Dumbledore seated himself in one of the calming red chairs.

After nearly a minute of tense silence, James cleared his throat nervously, and prompted the man with, "So, what's this news you have for us Albus?"

The old man's eyes locked with each of the Potter's, before sighing and beginning, "Unfortunately the news I have for your family, is not what I expected to have to deliver for at least a few more years. I wish terribly that the news I have for you today would bring happiness and joy to your faces, but alas, that will not be the case, and for that, I am truly sorry," he paused for a second before continuing in the same serious tone, "As you know, even though Voldemort is no longer around, there are still many rogue Death Eaters that the Ministry has still been unable to apprehend. It has been brought to my attention by a very close contact that a few of these rogue Death Eaters are recruiting new and old members of Voldemort's followers and are now planning something. It was only very recently that I have found out that that something is the resurrection of Voldemort himself."

Silence consumed the room once again as everyone took in what was just said. The startled silence was only interrupted when Lily let out a barely audible, "What?"

"I know this is a shock for you all, and I would very much like for that to be all that needs to be said, but there is more that you need to know. There is only one spell that I am aware of that would be able to reunite Voldemort's soul to his body, and as from what I have been able to gather, it is the same one that the Death Eaters are planning on using. The thing that concerns your family the most about this spell though, is the fact that the most important ingredient in the potion is the blood of the one who caused the separation of body from soul…"

James cut in quietly, "Or in other words, Jake's blood." Dumbledore nodded.

"What?" Lily's voice was frantic. "Are you telling me Albus, that these…these _people_," she spat, "are planning on hurting my child? My baby?"

"You'll never know how much I regret having to say this, but yes, that is exactly what I am saying." At this, Lily pulled Jake off of his father's lap, and onto her own, where she held him in a protective embrace. A tear slowly fell from the woman's eye as she held on tighter.

"Lily, please do not cry. Those tears are unheeded. You need to realize that just because there are people who wish to harm your child, doesn't mean they will succeed." This quickly caught everyone's attention.

"There is a way that we can ensure the safety of your eldest son, but there is a consequence," Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for someone to tell him to continue, and when James nodded his head, the aged voice persisted, "There is a spell that I have found in my private collection of books. This spell works very much like the _Fidelius charm,_ but you are your own secret keeper. The problem with this spell and the reason I did not mention it the first time you went into hiding, is that the spell itself is only able to work on one magically-inclined individual, meaning you and James."

James opened his mouth to comment, but Dumbledore quickly persisted. "Please, Mr. Potter, let me explain fully, then you may speak your mind." When there was no move of a remark, he continued, "The spell is originally meant for the use of one adult witch or wizard who has gained full control over their magical abilities, and would be able to sustain the spell for the amount of time needed. As the spell stands, it would be no use to your family, since Jake wouldn't be able to perform such magic, especially for that amount of time. But there is a certain type of loophole, if you will, that I believe will enable the spell to work on not only on the two of you, but also on your son."

"So, you're saying we could bring Jake with us?" Lily's eyes held a shine of hope to them as she stared at the aged man, looking for her answer.

At the small inclination of Dumbledore's head, it was as if the walls itself let out a conjoined sigh of relief. Lily and James shared a small, tired smile as Dumbledore explained further, "I have found another spell, hidden away in the confines of a century old book, depicting the different pros and cons of certain types of magic. The spell that you need is a type of soul magic. It is used when doing very powerful conjoined magic, in which one of the people involved has not enough magical strength. How the spell works, is it reaches down into your very magical core, your soul, and retracts enough magic to compensate for the other persons lack thereof. I must warn you; this spell can go very horrible if not preformed by someone with an adequate magic supply. But I believe that we will not have to concern ourselves with that, considering the power you both possess."

"Albus, this is wonderful news! We can save my baby, my precious little boy!" Lily kissed the top of her son's head, as James smiled wide at the aged man.

"I know this news is all very elating, but there is still one more fact that needs to be taken into consideration before you make your final decision." All the eyes in the room rested on Dumbledore as he continued, "Although you are able to take Jake safely into hiding with you, I hope you realize that he would be the only one able to go with you. The magic itself requires quite a bit of your personal energy, and taking Harry with you, I'm afraid, just is not an option."

Silence caught the tongues of James and Lily, as their eyes slowly rested on Harry, as if they had forgotten that he was there too. Once realization dawned on their minds what Dumbledore had just said, Lily was up in a second, her legs crouched as she protectively encircled her arms around her other son. Harry flinched a little out of surprise, but relaxed when nothing happened.

"Albus! Are you kidding me? You can't expect me to just…I can't just leave... he's my _son_ Albus!" Lily's grip tightened a little as she looked up tearfully at Dumbledore. Harry's surprised eyes followed his mothers gaze.

"Lily, my dear…you need to think of this predicament logically. If you do not go into hiding, not only will you lose Jake, but his death will be the reason for Voldemort's return. It was only a mere four years ago; surely you remember the fear, the pain, and the agony that came with Voldemort's reign. By going into hiding, you can stop this from happening again. I've already looked into a safe residence for Harry to stay in till his years at Hogwarts arrive."

"Where? Where will he stay that's safe? He's going to be a target for the Death Eaters! He's the brother of the boy-who-lived! Any dark wizard would just love to get their hands on him!"

"Ah, this is where magic comes into play. He will be staying in a muggle environment, with your sister Petunia and her family. We will set a powerful protection charm, modified slightly with the fidelus charm on the house, making it very difficult and almost impossible for Harry to be found by any wizard wishing him harm."

Harry's small arms hesitantly reached around his mother in a rare hug, as Lily's back shuttered to make her decision. James, who was now holding onto Jake, looked down upon his wife's struggling form, spoke up quietly, "Lily…I think you should allow him to go. We can't give either of the boy's a proper upbringing if they're taught to be in constant fear and worry, love."

A few moments passed while Lily seemed to get enough control over her thoughts to think over the situation sensibly. Taking a deep breath, she looked up into the calm eyes of Albus Dumbledore, and spoke her decision, "When…," she cleared her chocked voice, "When will he be going?"

"I was hoping to come retrieve him tomorrow afternoon."

"Tomorrow! That's too soon Albus!" Lily's voice was slightly frantic again.

"I know it is early Lily, but the sooner the better. I'd like to have you all safely in hiding by the day after Harry leaves."

Lily began to silently sob once again, but still shook her head in agreement.

The following hour was spent with James, Dumbledore, and Lily discussing the plans of the future. While none of the Potters looked forward to what the next few years would bring, the confusion and hidden horror in the green eyes of the child on the floor made it obvious who understood this the most.

- - -

The sun was just setting behind the surrounding trees of Godrics Hollow when Dumbledore had arrived to take Harry away the following day. The atmosphere was far from calm as Lily and James rushed around the house, packing boxes and trunks, all while trying to keep up a very futile 'nothing-was-wrong' façade for Jake's sake. When it was finally time for Harry to leave, there was hardly a pause in the busy buzz for a hug and kiss goodbye before his parents were off doing something else. Something obviously more important.

Harry walked down the pathway away from his house, red plush dragon in one hand, rolling suitcase in the other. His head was looking down at his shoes as he walked, thoughts of betrayal and loneliness at the lack of love or care from his parents swirling around his head. He wished his parents cared more, that they weren't going to send him away and so blatantly have chosen Jake over him. Harry always knew that if something like this happened, Jake would obviously have been put in front of him, but the utter feeling of resentment and betrayal he felt towards them was not expected.

Harry met up with Dumbledore at the end of the path; a scrunched up can held in one of his aged palms. The man instructed Harry to lay a finger on the port key and to not remove it till they arrived at their destination.

"Once we get there, I need you to stay close to me Harry. Do not stray, for your own safety."

Harry nodded his head in understanding.

"Are you ready?"

Harry hesitated, "Yes, sir."

"Good," Dumbledore smiled reassuringly, "Let us have a count down then? From five?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright," his smile widened, "Five."

Harry looked back at his house, the only place he ever called home, memories racing through his mind.

"Four."

He remembered all the good times he had had there with his family. All the adventures he and his brother had gone on. All the games and laughter and love that had been shared within those walls. But then there was a pause. All the games and laughter and love had happened without him. He hardly laughed in that house; there was hardly any love shown for him there.

"Three."

His parents really didn't care about him. Sure, they said they did, and his mother even put on a good show of tears last night when she found out he was leaving. He was sure the waterworks were more from her own guilt at abandoning her son rather then her own sympathetic pain for her child. His father, on the other hand, didn't even argue with his departure. Didn't even come close to shedding one single tear. He didn't care.

"Two."

They didn't care about him. Ever since Jake had become the 'boy-who-lived', they had been drifting away from him, leaving the love and care for his well being behind. They didn't care. They didn't love him. They didn't care.

Harry shut his eyes.

"One."

_I hate you._

His blackened eyes opened, staring down the house, before both him and Dumbledore disappeared in a swirl of colour.

_Didn't mean to complicate tomorrow  
Didn't mean to make you feel that way  
Didn't come to irritate your morals  
But then you push me far away  
Why did you push me far away  
I just can't see why you neglected to try  
To move on with our lives, when we shared the goodbye_

_You let them decide the course of my life  
We shared the goodbye, and you threw me aside  
You'll never make that choice again, no not again  
Will you affect my life again _

-'Decide' by Flaw

A/N: -giggles- 11 months without an update. How completely evil am I? That was insane and I'm so incredibly sorry for not updating sooner! I get really bad writers block really easily, especially when writing out explanations, like the one Dumbledore gave in this chapter. I **promise** the next chapter won't take that long! I even freakin pinky swear it man. Pinky. Swear.

On another note: Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians out there!

And on another note: Thank you to all my reviewers! You all are so amazing, I'm speechless. To tell you the truth, there's been more then one occasion where I was really considering giving up this fic, but every time I got a review I was inspired to write more. So thank you!

And on another note that you probably don't care about: My birthday is next weekend, so send some extra love in those reviews:)


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and such belong to J

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and such belong to J. K. Rowling. The lyrics are Dry Kill Logic's. I own nothing.

Chapter Seven

_Freaks_

_The laughter starts to fade  
And I remember falling victim again  
And I feel the pain won't let me forget  
And I cannot let this get in my head  
And I... the last chance  
One more try  
Final straws  
And goodbyes  
The laughter starts to fade_

-'No Reason' by Dry Kill Logic

The world around Harry swirled with multitudes of different colours and shapes, all dancing and blending together. One hand tightly clutched his luggage and dragon, the other was glued to the old can. He shut his eyes against the raging blurs, and within a few seconds he felt himself land in a disheveled heap on the cold cement. Looking up, he took the offered hand of Dumbledore's cool and collected form, and stood up. Grabbing his strewn items, he followed the aged man closely down the silent Muggle street they had arrived on. The houses were all still as the summer night air, shadows cast upon hidden crevices from where the streetlights hit. The only sounds discernable from the surrounding silence were a distant dog barking, a very soft rustle of bushes, and their own echoing footsteps. The calm, orderly, and overall cool aura emitting from the unfamiliar place he was in made Harry feel highly uncomfortable and a bit intimidated. Tightening his hold on the red plushy he was holding, he picked up his pace in order to follow Dumbledore more closely.

Dumbledore's pace slowed to a light walk when they came to a house much like the others along the street, but with a large, black '4' posted on the mailbox. The two walked up the asphalt driveway to the large, wooden front door. Harry's small form looked up at the tall man as he wordlessly racked his hand on the door. A few seconds of quiet, rustling bushes were all that were heard, until a commotion of stumbling feet came from the other side of the door. It quickly opened.

Harry barely got a glimpse of the tall, boney woman, before he and Dumbledore were quickly ushered inside, "Well, what are you waiting for? Come in, come in! Quickly now, before the neighbors see." The woman peered outside the doorframe to look around, before pulling her head back in and shutting the door tightly.

Dumbledore's eyes sparkled as he laid them on the horse-like woman in front of him, "Ah, Petunia. It seems like years since we last met my dear."

"Yes, maybe to you, but the ash I'm still trying to clean up from your appearance in our fireplace a couple days ago proves us otherwise," her pale eyes narrowed.

The aged man gave a chuckle, "I'm sorry about that, I didn't realize I had left you a mess. I could clean in up if you'd like?" He began to reach for his wand.

"No, no! I don't think that will be necessary, I can do it myself," she uneasily stared at the place Dumbledore's hand had been drifting to.

He smiled. "Alright. Now, if we're done here, would you mind showing Harry and I to the living room, where we may finalize his stay?"

Although she didn't seem extremely pleased about it in Harry's opinion, she nodded and gestured for them to follow her. They walked into a room just beside the foyer they had been standing in. The room was a tad impressive, not from the size or anything like that, but from the organization of everything. Nothing seemed to be out of place or unclean, and the furniture and décor was in descript, yet very tasteful at the same time. Sitting on the long, beige sofa, sat a stern-looking and unhealthily large man, and what appeared to be his son, although Harry was sure 'baby beluga' would have done the description much more justice.

The bushy mustache of the large man wiggled as he spoke, "Dumbledore," he gave a curt nod of acknowledgment in his direction, "And this must be the boy," his slanted, beady eyes narrowed a bit as they landed on Harry's small form. Controlling the urge to step back, Harry looked down.

"Yes, this right here is Harry Potter," the aged wizard placed a hand on the small shoulder. Harry continued looking down.

"Very good, very good…," the man's gaze drifted back to Dumbledore, "Now, since we covered pretty much everything there is to cover last time you were here, I see no reason for you to be in our home longer then needed. So let's just cut to the chase. I believe you mentioned some sort of…cheque, for looking after him," Harry glanced up at the man, and noted the slight look of hunger in his eye. When Dumbledore removed the white envelope from his cloak to hand over, the beefy man even stuck out his tongue slightly, wetting his lips in anticipation.

"I believe I did too, Mr. Dursley," he offered the cheque for the large man to take. When it was snatched from the aged hand, Harry had to blink; he didn't know it was physically possible for someone so large to move so quickly. "There should be enough there for you and your family to continue to live comfortably for quite some time, with your new addition to the household," Dumbledore explained. The wide and dazed smile covering the other man's face made it quite evident that he wasn't listening.

The boney woman peered over the man's shoulder to see the amount, and a similar smile of greed appeared across her own features. Looking up, the smile quickly changed to one of blatantly fake sweetness, "This was very kind of you Dumbledore, but you know it wasn't necessary. It's our pleasure to take care of our little Harry, here," It was pretty obvious that that was a far cry from the truth by the way her husband's clouded eyes still stared at the small paper, a small bit of drool forming at the side of his mouth.

Nevertheless, she walked over to where Harry stood and put her hands on both his shoulders, leading him over to where the rest of her family sat on the couch. Harry's back remained stiff the whole time. The fact that the majority of his physical touch from the past year or so was when his Daddy hit him, combined with the overall unfriendly demeanour of his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin put him on edge.

Once she was back standing behind her husband at the couch, she gave him a discrete nudge, knocking him out of his mesmerized state. Looking up, a smile that was, if possible, even more phony then the one of his wife's, was plastered across his walrus-like face.

"Yes, this was very generous of you, thank you very much. We'll be sure to take care of our little _Harry_ here as if he was one of our own. I mean, he is family after all," the man's beefy hand reached out and mussed Harry's hair in what he assumed was supposed to be an affectionate way. Controlling the urge to distance himself as far as he could from these people, Harry looked down.

"I can see that Harry will be in good hands," Dumbledore smiled.

"Oh, he will be, don't you worry," his Aunts hand was on his shoulder again. Harry shuttered, although doubted anyone was able to notice.

"Now that that's all settled then, I'm going to have to take my leave. I hate to go so quickly, but there is much to be done before your sister and the rest of her family goes into hiding tomorrow, as I'm sure you all understand."

A lump formed itself into Harry's throat at these words. Dumbledore was actually leaving him with these people. This wasn't some morbid dream that he was going to wake up from. This was reality, and as soon as the aged wizard stepped out of that front door, it would be final.

But even as everyone rose from the couch and walked the man to the door, Harry didn't protest his stay. He said nothing. The only thing muttered from his tiny frame was a small goodbye when Dumbledore bided his farewells, promising to return in a couple months time to see how he was adjusting. And then the man was gone into the night.

Harry was finally alone with his newly discovered family.

The falsely sweet atmosphere couldn't have ended more quickly.

The large man was towering over him within a second.

"You listen here boy, and you listen well," he spat. Taken aback by the man's abruptness, Harry stumbled back, tripping himself and falling down onto his rear. The man responded by gripping the front of his shirt and lifting him up, so they were now face to face, "While you are staying in this house, there will be rules, and you _will_ follow them. I don't care what you could get away with doing while you were with your freaks-of-parents; I don't want any of that shit going on in my household. No freaky incidents, no mysterious, unholy acts, no _nothing_. If I hear that any, _any_ of that…that _magic_ was done while you are staying under this roof, you better hope it was to summon a first aid kit, because you'll need it after I'm through with you," he shook him roughly, emphasizing his point, "Do I make myself clear boy?"

Still completely shocked by the difference he was seeing in his Uncle, Harry shakily nodded his head, "Y-yes, s-sir."

"Good," the man gripped tighter to his shirt, and lifted the boy's small frame so that his feet just barely brushed the floor they were dangling above. It was becoming difficult to get air to his lungs, which seemed to bring Harry back to his sense. He started struggling against the death grip, kicking his legs, banging his arms against the hold, gasping. This just resulted in his Uncle's hold becoming even tighter, more painful.

Walking over to a door under the staircase that his Aunt quickly opened, his Uncle threw him roughly inside. His head hit the back wall hard with an unhealthy '_smack'_, and his small body fell to the floor.

"There'll be many things for you to do around this house while you stay here, and you'll be expected to work for what we so generously give you. While you're not performing the tasks we give you, you'll be staying in here. Clear?" His Aunt stared down at him.

Harry nodded thorough the stars that were still dancing through his vision.

She leaned in through the short door and pointed, "Light. Pull this if you want it to work," she demonstrated by tugging on the skinny rope, turning the light on and off again, then pointed to a bundle of sheets and a pillow on top of a skinny and long cushion, "Bed. You'll be sleeping here," she then pointed to a bucket pushed off to the side of the small space, "Toilet. If you have to do your business in the middle of the night or any other time you're being kept in here, that's where you do it, understand?"

"Y-yes, Aunt Petunia."

She didn't acknowledge his words, but simply stepped back out of the small cupboard. Coming up from behind her, his Uncle tossed the belongings he had arrived with into the Harry's new 'room', and shut the door with a slam. A clicking noise was heard, indicating that he was now locked in.

Taking a deep breathe from the sudden silent darkness, Harry quickly crawled over to where his Aunt showed him the light was, and pulled the rope. A dim light filled the small room, illuminating the few things that were in it.

Harry's breathe was now heavy, the thoughts of what had just happened flying vigorously through his mind, one barely distinguishable from the other. Barely controlling the soul clenching cries that wanted to fall from his mouth, Harry allowed only silent tears to fall from his eyes while he looked for his red Dragon. Not finding it right away, his hands started to shake, a panic beginning to rise from his chest. Then he spotted the red plushy lying on it's side, beside the bucket his Aunt had pointed out. Quickly grabbing the toy, he scuttled up on to the mattress, back pressed into the corner it was lying in, and tightly wrapped his arms around his inanimate friend, burying his face into the red softness.

Needless to say, it was a long time before his body finally stopped it's shakes, and sleep finally claimed him.

A/N: Yay for updates! Boo for the length of this chapter. I know, I know, it's short. But I thought it was a good place to stop.


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